The Hindu : Vaiko to move bail application today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 13, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Vaiko to move bail application today

By R.K. Radhakrishnan

CHENNAI, JAN. 12. The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary and POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) detenu, Vaiko, will move a bail application before a special court on Tuesday.

Mr. Vaiko was arrested along with others in July 2002 for a speech he made at Tirumangalam, near Madurai, the previous month. He has been lodged in the Vellore jail.

The Madras High Court released the eight others on bail today. Mr. Vaiko said he would appear as party-in-person and argue his petition before the special court for POTA cases, Poonamallee.

Mr. Vaiko and seven of the eight others were brought this morning to the court as cross-examination of a prosecution witness is in progress.

In the afternoon, the Lok Janshakthi Party president, Ram Vilas Paswan, arrived at the court to meet Mr. Vaiko. But the police prevented him from going to the room where Mr. Vaiko was being held. His supporters raised slogans against ``police high-handedness.'' The police told Mr. Paswan that he needed court permission to meet Mr. Vaiko and pushed him towards the court veranda. Hearing the commotion, Mr. Vaiko came out of the room and tried to convince the police to allow the meeting. When the police refused to oblige, he moved to the veranda to meet Mr. Paswan. This enabled photographers and television crew, who could not have filmed the two leaders inside the room, to record the meeting.

L. Rajendran, special judge, took exception to the disruption of the proceedings and summoned to his chamber the defence counsel, K.R. Dinakar, and G. Devadoss; the special public prosecutor, S. Jayakumar, and the escort police personnel.

Earlier, Mr. Dinakar sought permission for Mr. Vaiko to meet Mr. Paswan. Mr. Rajendran said that even on earlier occasions he had not explicitly permitted anyone to meet Mr.Vaiko. Nor had he ruled preventing any meeting.

But now pandemonium prevailed and this could not be tolerated. Mr. Vaiko and his counsel submitted that it was the police mishandling of the situation that led to the problems. ``The police should have anticipated the situation. We have been cooperating with this court and the police for the past 18 months. We have no part in the confusion and the disruption in the court,'' said Mr. Vaiko.

Paswan condemns PM's comment

Mr. Paswan said A.B. Vajpayee describing that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) - Congress alliance as ``unprincipled'' was unbecoming the stature of a Prime Minister. If the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) believed that the DMK was in the wrong, why did the BJP have an electoral tie-up with the DMK? Why was this conveniently forgotten for the past five years when the DMK was part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance? One could have political differences, but should not stoop to personal attacks, Mr. Paswan said. Answering questions, he said if the secular front came to power, it would scrap the POTA.

Mr. Vaiko said Mr. Paswan was the first leader in Parliament to condemn his detention under the POTA.

He told Mr. Vaiko that chances of the secular front in the Lok Sabha elections were bright.

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