Karunanidhi answerable for police violence in court: Jayalalithaa

Chennai, Nov 5: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi should spell out what action would be taken against four police officials after the Madras High Court recommended their suspension for violence in its premises Feb 19, opposition leader J. Jayalalithaa said Thursday.

"If he wants to protect the errant officers, he should have the courage to go before the court and admit it was he who gave them the instructions to go on the rampage in the high court campus. If not, he should be ready to face contempt proceedings," she said in a statement issued here Thursday.

"Either way, the chief minister is answerable," she said.

A two-member Madras High Court bench Oct 29 recommended disciplinary action against the four senior Chennai police officials for the clash between lawyers and police Feb 19, and ordered the state government to pay the court Rs.5.8 million as compensation for its damaged property.

The government remains silent on action to be taken against the policemen though its counsel has said the state will abide by the court's order.

"It was this very same police force that had maintained an enviable degree of law and order during my regime, to the extent that Tamil Nadu was considered a model state - a virtual sanctuary of peace," Jayalalithaa claimed.

According to her, the high court incident is not an isolated case as claimed by Karunanidhi in his column in the DMK party's newspaper Murasoli.

"In May 2007, police in Madurai remained silent spectators as a group of DMK hoodlums went on the rampage in the office of the Dinakaran newspaper. Three innocent employees died in the incident. Shortly after, DMK activists attacked the office of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Chennai, even as the city police looked on with casual interest," Jayalalithaa said.

"In another gruesome incident, police watched passively as two groups of students of the Madras Law College murderously battered each other," she added.