The Hindu : Special court dispenses with Vaiko presence

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 06, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Special court dispenses with Vaiko presence

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, MARCH 5. A special court at Poonamallee near here has dispensed with the presence of Vaiko, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary, in the trial of a POTA case against him. The relief will be in operation till May 8, the day he completes his election campaign.

Earlier, Mr. Vaiko sought relief under Section 205 of the Criminal Procedure Code. He requested the court to dispense with his personal appearance as he had to campaign all over the State.

L. Rajendran, judge, Special Court for Prevention of Terrorism Act cases, directed that Mr. Vaiko be represented by counsel (Mr.Vaiko was arguing his case as party-in-person) and that he should not claim that his absence had prejudiced the conduct of the trial. Accordingly, G.Devadoss, who represents some of the defendants, will represent Mr. Vaiko also. As per the existing bail conditions, he will inform the investigating officer if Mr. Vaiko moves out of Chennai. The MDMK leader has been directed to appear in the court after he completed his campaigning.

The special public prosecutor, S. Jayakumar, objected to the relief sought and said the court had to consider whether the prayer was reasonable and convincing, and also the gravity of the offence.

Now, cross-examination of prosecution witnesses is in progress. Following a Madras High Court directive, the special court took up hearing of the case on a daily basis to complete it by June-end. Mr.Vaiko and eight others were arrested in July 2002 for pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam speeches they made a month earlier at Tirumangalam near Madurai. Mr. Vaiko was released on bail in early February, while the others were freed a month earlier.

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