Joining the group of eight
non-Congress Chief Ministers in opposing the Centre’s ambitious plan to create
a National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), ADMK Chief Minister Jayalalitha had
also shared the concerns. Under the headline, ‘Power to arrest and sieze can be
misused’, the daily ‘The Hindu’ on Feb.18 had published the news of a letter
written by Jayalalitha to the Prime Minister, which said,
“Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha
on Friday branded the provisions of the Home Ministry's order on National
Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) as those smacking of a tendency to abrogate
power with no attendant responsibility.
The Chief Minister, in a
letter to the Prime Minister, referred essentially to broad provisions
concerning the NCTC — the power to arrest, the power to search, the power to
set up Inter-State Intelligence Support Teams and the power to seek information
from any agency.
The letter was in response
to an office memorandum of the Home Ministry of February 3, referring to the
setting up of NCTC under the Intelligence Bureau from March 1.
Jayalalitha said the power
to arrest and seize, vested with the Joint Secretary in the Home Ministry and
the State Home Secretary, was now sought to be transferred to IB officers in
the NCTC. “This is highly objectionable and can be misused to suit ends that
are motivated by reasons other than fighting terror. Moreover, setting up of
inter-State intelligence teams is tantamount to usurping legitimate rights of
the States.”
The Chief Minister noted
that the State could pride itself on an excellent track record with regard to
counter-terror measures. Her government had always taken a firm stand vis-a-vis
terrorist organisations, she pointed out.
She adverted to her “strong
commitment” to supporting all measures and efforts taken to strengthen the
unity and integrity of the country and for upholding its sovereignty.
“I share the concerns of
other State Chief Ministers who have expressed reservations against the
attitude of certain Ministries in the Government of India acting in a
high-handed manner without due consultation with the States. Matters of Public
Order and Police are in the State List of the Constitution of India and is it
unreasonable to expect that when a major initiative such as a national
counter-terrorism mechanism is sought to be established, the States should be
taken into confidence?”
Of course, ‘law and order’
is a subject per se under the powers of the State government vide the
Constitution and federal principles and ‘the power to arrest, the power to
search, the power to intelligence agency to seek any information from any
agency’ are exclusively States’ authority in governance. However, given the
transnational operations of Terrorist forces and the speed with which they
communicate and strike in this age of information and global village, effective
counter-intelligence and counter-terrorist operations may at times require
quick spot assessment and strike in order to avoid huge losses. Even sharing of
certain crucial intelligence inputs with all states in the routine manner may
prove costly and disastrous. However, all these matters have to be
dispassionately and thoroughly discussed by the Central and State governments
and such knee-jerk reactions to seek political scores should be avoided by the
incumbents in power at the Centre and States.
Leaving aside such matters
of principles, for which of all the people, Jayalalitha cares two hoots, what
is her locus-standi to complain against others of ‘misuse of power to arrest,
to search, to sieze’ and ‘acting in a high-handed manner’. We are not concerned
with her personal life, in which there are number of stories of her reckless
and merciless use/ misuse of persons in positions and her own position, for her
ends. But in her public life, her rise in her party hierarchy and through that
capturing and sustaining power, rests mainly on her use/ misuse of people
including her professed ‘mentor’ MGR. The list of people she deviously used for
her career elevation and then disowned and dumped is quite long, the last being
her former aide for 30 years, Sasikala and her relative.
As Chief Minister,
Jayalalitha was notorious and continue to be notorious for blatant misuse of
power against her political rivals. Her vindictive actions of foisting false
cases against DMK functionaries and former ministers and incarcerating them since
her return to power in May last is well known to the people. But this is not a
new trend now during her third tenure as Chief Minister. She had been
accustomed to use the police administration into serving her needs. Jayalalitha
uses the following:
• Intimidation: This is her favorite tool. ADMK Goons would
assualt anyone the party leader wants. Their house would be ransacked. The police
officials will be instructed to conveniently turn a blind eye to it.
• Protection: In all Goonda Raj systems, with intimidation
comes protection. In the olden days, it used to be payment of money in return
for protection. Today, Police Officals and party members are protected,
promoted and pampered in return for servicing illegal goals.
• Foisting false cases: This is a method that Jayalalitha
seems to be perfecting with every passing day. There is no other chief minister
using this so expertly as Jayalalitha does. Lots of people are under the
misunderstanding that the police need evidence to arrest you. WRONG. They don't
need evidence to arrest anybody, they only need to produce the evidence
partially during bail hearings and completely under Trial hearings. Here is how
the law works against an accused during ADMK regimes.
The
police don't need evidence to arrest. The discussion of evidence is done only
at the trial stage which will be many years /months away.
Arrests
are often done on a Friday week-end. The reason is that the judiciary does not
operate on the weekend and this means that you cannot apply for bail. Many
Higher court have passed restrictions to stop the Friday week-end arrest, but
the police always find ways to work around the restrictions.
A
warrant is not needed for cognizable offences like murder. So the police try to
arrest you only for these kinds of offences.
No
discussion of evidence and no cross-questioning of the police is ever done.
Since it is the prerogative of the government to transfer magistrates, they
rarely act in a neutral way and are overwhelmingly biased towards the police.
The
bail application can be easily delayed by the prosecution team. Some standard
excuses are that the senior prosecutor is busy with something else, the papers
are not ready, investigation has turned up new evidence etc. Each time a bail
application is delayed, the case is postponed by the courts by 2 or more weeks.
The
Police demolish your reputation by saying whatever they want in courts, in press
meetings and by leaking to the press. They can say anything they want without
fear of consequences such as you have confessed or incriminating documents have
been found in your house or they have proof that other women have confessed to
having a relationship with you etc. Please note here that proof need not be
shown. The mere statement by the police has a devastating effect on the
individual and his family.
They
can invoke Goondas Law if they feel the courts will release you on bail. The
law is written in such a way that it is highly slanted against the accused. You
will have to represent your case by yourself. All of this makes your chance of
being freed remote.
The
police will apply arrest warrants on you on a staggered basis, very slowly, one
at a time. If you are freed on bail in one case, you will be served with an
arrest warrant on the second case. You cannot come out of jail until you get
bail on all your arrests. This is yet another commonly used strategy to prolong
your stay in jail.
The
prosecution can send complaint letters to professional bodies like ICAI asking
them to revoke your professional licence.
They
can call you / your friends / relatives for questioning at any time of the day,
at any police station they want without providing reasons. They can arrest /
threaten to arrest (even under a non-bailable section of the law) claiming that
you have withheld evidence during questioning.
Delay
your case in trial by deliberately increasing the witness list. This requires
more time to cross-question each witness thus prolonging the case and your
misery.
The
prosecution could appeal in higher courts any lower court judgement in your
favor thus prolonging your case even further.
The
police can plant evidence and tamper with evidence. They can claim that they
the murder weapon along with the accused' fingerprint in your house. They
retrieved wads of money from your house etc etc. It would be the job of the
defence to disprove such claims and you will need to have a top class law team
to be able to do that.
As you
can see, the case will go on for decades. In the meantime, the judge may retire
or be retired or even pass away in which case, the whole case will be tried
again from scratch further prolonging the judgement.
Fighting
the police requires lot of money, time and patience. Each bail application
costs Rs.25,000 with 2 sureties. Filing anticipatory bail requires similar
amounts of money. Your travel will become highly restricted. You must present
yourself for every court hearing. If you miss even one hearing, the prosecution
could demand for cancellation of your bail. The bail restrictions will be
stifling. You will be asked to present yourself in front of a police station
every week. The police could insult you, taunt you and treat you like dirt.
However, If you make the mistake of losing your temper, a case of misdemeanour
will be slapped on you.
• The Dharmapuri bus burning case is a classic case to
examine misuse of power. In 2000, three girls were killed when an angry mob
comprising of ADMK workers set ablaze a Coimbatore Agriculture
University bus near
Dharmapuri. Since this involved her party members, Jayalalitha did everything
under her control to save the guilty after her return to power in 2001. The
government threatened and forced the witness to turn hostile (retract their
confessions). On Sep 2003, the Madras High Court Judge, Justice V Kanakaraj
ordered the retrial of the Dharmapuri bus burning case . The government
conveniently ignored the order and never appointed a prosecutor. The entire
case was delayed and frozen for over 5 years. Jayalalitha by not appointing a
prosecutor was behaving a leech. She gets happiness out of other people's
miseries. In this sad tragedy, it was happiness of the three girls’ parents she
was sucking every day.
• Selvi Murugesan, former ADMK MLA from Kangeyam , was an
accused in an FIR in a murder case and was not arrested. Her party MLA was
involved in a murder case and naturally Jayalalitha government did everything
in her power to let her escape the lawful consequences.
• S. Kanitha Sampath, former ADMK MLA from Tirupporur, was
an accused in an FIR in a murder case and was never arrested.
• M K Balan was an ADMK MLA from Saidapet during 1991-96. In
1996 after DMK came to power he joined to DMK. After 2001, the Police were
reported to have picked him and he had not returned. The High Court ordered the
Police to produce him and yet this was not done. Obviously, he is no more! A
case of missing person or a case of missing truth?!
Her regime has a fair
number of False foisting of cases which the courts ultimately throw out . Here
are some of them in the past :
• TV actress Bhuvaneswari, reported to be friendly with
Sudhakaran, was booked under SITA, later acquitted by the Court.
• She arrested Muthu, a former MGR assistant, placed
illegally under arrest for carrying drugs until court acquitted him . The false
case against Muthu was foisted on him because he gave some recommendation to
MGR against Jayalalitha. That was more than sufficient provocation for her to
take revenge when she got to power.
• Film actress Vinitha, reportedly refused to entertain the
guests of powers that be and she was booked under SITA. She was later acquitted
by the Court.
• B. Thameen Ansari was illegally placed under Goondas act
until HC acquitted him .
• Acid was thrown at the face of K.K.S.S.R Ramachandran for
not toeing her line.
• Since Advocate Muthuvijayan of ‘Voice Consumer Forum'
filed public interest litigations in Chennai High Court against her misdeeds,
he was attacked by auto-bound gangs, causing 27 fractures to him.
• Since Advocate Shanmugasundaram was preparing the petition
on behalf of the then Alandur Municipal Chairman R S Bharathi against the purchase
of TANSI land by Jayalalitha and Sasikala, auto-bound gangs caused grievous
hurt to him, including 9 punctures in his lungs. Her henchman Adhi Rajaram was
rewarded with Rajya Sabha seat and after public protest, the move was given up.
He was the South Chennai District Secretary of ADMK. Since the then Chief
Election Commissioner T.N.Seshan, was not abetting her anti-democratic methods
in the poll process, he was refused room in the State Guest House and Taj Coromandel
Hotel was ransacked by her auto-bound hooligans, just because Taj allotted him
room to stay!
• As Chief Election Commissioner Seshan visited Chennai
despite her warnings to him, the entire GST Road in front of the Chennai Airport was blocked by thousands of her
party men virtually laying a siege of the Airport. The Chief Secretary and the
DGP refused to clear them from the Road, even when the Chief Election
Commissioner told them to clear! The people from various parts of the State who
were on the way to Chennai could not enter Chennai for five hours, because of
this!! She did not hesitate to put her own citizens to hardship and miseries,
just because T N Seshan was firm in the performance of his duties!!!
• She approved the S P I C divestment, much against the
advice of the then Industries Secretary, Chandralekha. Chandralekha was
transferred as Archives Commissioner. That was not enough. Jayalalitha hired
hooligans and acid was thrown at Chandralekha's face! Surla of Mumbai who was
accused, allegedly died of Aids inside the prison?
• At the inauguration of the Coimbatore New Air terminal,
the then Coimbatore M.P. (Congress-I) C.K.Kuppuswamy in his speech, first
addressed the President of the said function and then only uttered the words
"Chief minister Ms.Jayalalitha". She felt ‘humiliated’ by this ‘sinful'
act because her name was not mentioned first. So her men attacked the M.P even
as he was returning home from the very same function.
• P.Chidambaram was way laid and attacked by more than six
MLAs of ADMK at Tiruchy as he had opposed Jayalalitha in 1996 elections, as TMC
functionary.
• Three
Coimbatore Agricultural
College girls were burnt
to death inside their bus in Dharmapuri, as fallout of her conviction in the
Pleasant Stay Hotel case.
• She has the dubious distinction of arresting even the
Union Cabinet ministers. Her Police arrested Kalaignar (then 79 years old) in
the dead of night, dragged through the stair case as he was not walking as fast
as the agile Policemen in his own residence! Justice Ashok kumar (then
Principal Sessions Judge) questioned the prosecution on the methods of arrest
of Kalaignar, Union Ministers Maran and T R Baalu and he was threatened with
death.
• The DMK procession to condemn the arrest of Kalaignar was brutally
attacked by organised goondas, with the full aid and abetment of the Police,
but she meticulously planned a judicial enquiry and cleared all her misdeeds of
any legal allegations. Curiously, none of the hooligans who caused death and
grievous injury to hundreds of DMK men was ever booked under Goondas Act!
• VN Sudhakaran, her foster son was booked under Narcotics
Act as he went against her with lot of money.
• Two Muslim brothers (Jalaluddin and Ziauddin of Silicon
Valley Company, 14 Jagannathan Street,
Nungambakkam) were booked under Narcotics Act as they were friendly with
Sudhakaran.
• Serena Banu of Madurai,
reported to be friendly with Natarajan, was booked under Narcotics Act.
• Vaiko was incarcerated for over eighteen months under
POTA, on the charge that he spoke in favour of banned LTTE. Even as the Review
Committee ruled that there was no ground under law that would be attracted by
the said speech, she took every step under her powers to stall his release,
that he ultimately was released only after one and half years.
• Mani Shankar Iyer differed with Jayalalitha's views on
Sonia Gandhi at a Government function to commence certain welfare schemes in
Nagapattinam, he was waylaid as he was returning from the function, by her men
led by the ADMK's Organising Secretary.
• Her auditor Rajashekar was attacked severely inside Poes Garden
premises itself because of difference of opinion amongst them. What takes the
cake is after viciously attacking him, she sent him a bouquet of flowers and a
get-well-soon card. She also released an ironic statement that is
characteristic of her: 'I am too cultured to indulge in such an uncivilised act”!!!
That is vintage Jayalalitha. First commit the crime, then blame it on your
opponents, then boast about yourself sky high. This pattern can be seen
repeatedly over and over.
• Attempt to use the parliament to arrest the editors of the
"Hindu".
• An old couple in Dr.
Rangachari Road, Alwarpet were attacked by goondas
in their house because they refused to sell their house to her
• Gangai Amaran had to sell his ‘Paiyanoor farm house’
because she took a fancy to that .
• Since Justice A R Lakshmanan (then Madras High Court) gave
judgments uncomfortable to her Government, she arrested his Son-in-law Kumar
under Narcotics Act.
• Since Justice M Srinivasan (Madras High Court) was not
inclined to give judgments as she wanted, his house was attacked by auto-bound
hooligans; electricity and water supply to his house were disconnected.
• The Amrutanjan Residence in Nageswara Rao Park Road, Mylapore was
forcibly taken possession by her men.
• The Kodai
International School
was forcibly occupied by her men, throwing out school children at the dead of
night. It was Justice Ashok Kumar (then District Judge, Dindigul) who restored
it to the School by judicial intervention. For this reason he was transferred
to Dharmapuri and Tiruvannamalai, to cause personal inconvenience to him. He
faced physical threats too.
• The notorious wedding of that paralysed the City of Chennai for over a week
• She dismissed at one stroke, over 1,50,000 striking
Government employees and teachers, their protest was not for any increase in
wages but because their present benefits were cut. She went up to Supreme Court
to prove her powers to so dismiss, got a three member judges panel constituted
and held enquiries for nearly nine months and finally reinstated all but about
9000 employees. After the 2004 parliamentary elections, she reinstated all of
them, What happened to all the judicial exercise that went through even
postponing many other cases pending before various courts and the costs
involved in the three member judicial panel exercise? Does not the State lose
money for the whims and fancies of a CM? Is she above law and justice?
Wild-allegations
• As soon as MGR died, she publicly accused that Janaki
Ramachandran administered poison in buttermilk and murdered MGR.
• In May 1991, as soon as Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated, she
accused that it was Kalaignar who organised the assassination. She organised,
through her ADMK party, attacks on all DMK offices and party men's residences
so as to create terror in their minds and thereby prevented them to effectively
canvass in the elections and manage the booths. The insinuation she made to her
party cadres at the time of Rajiv's death is very much recorded in the print
media, the statement she released on the occasion (nearly three-fourth of a
page in Dina Thanthi) contained the word "Blood" more than few
hundred times! Her first poll victory was only on this platform and for this
purpose she did not even bother about basic human decency and printed life size
posters of Rajiv Gandhi's body with his entire torso and back fully exposed.
This we state here to show as to what indecent extent she will go to secure
political victory.
• In the 1996 assembly elections, as G.K. Mooppanar aligned
with DMK, she accused Mooppanar of conspiring in the Rajiv Gandhi
assassination.
• In the 2004 parliamentary elections, as Congress(I) formed
an alliance with DMK, she questioned the ‘Pathi Bhakthi' of Tmt. Sonia Gandhi
since she is hobnobbing with the assassins of Rajiv Gandhi.
• On 25 January 1989, she masterminded the ‘war' inside the
Assembly premises. She accused and made the whole world believe, ably supported
by the gullible media, that it was Durai Murugan who pulled her Sari inside the
Assembly premises, whereas in fact it was she who threw the Budget Speech at
the then CM Kalaignar and in the melee that followed, Durai Murugan just
stamped on the Sari that was left to flow on the floor! The entire show was
preplanned.
• In the floor of the Assembly, she accused the then
Governor Channa Reddy of misbehaving with her during a meeting in Raj Bhavan.
• During S P I C divestment trial proceedings in the Court,
she denied her own signature in the Government files in approval!
• During the wealth case trial proceedings in the Court, she
stated that the Maharaja of Mysore out of love and affection gifted the jewels
to her mother! It is another matter that she declared in the floor of the
Legislative Assembly that she was a Brahmin (Naan Paapaathithaan)!! Ironically
both the platforms were constitutionally honourable ones!!!
• After the 2004 parliamentary elections, she reversed every
one of her controversial decisions taken before the elections, including the
Anti-conversion law and Prohibition of animal offerings at the altar of
temples.
This being her record while
in power, Jayalalitha should ponder over several times before affixing her
signature in letters to Prime Minister, drafted by some officials assuming her
as a protagonist of State autonomy and ‘rule of law’!
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