DMK to move Supreme Court against Jayalalithaa

CHENNAI: DMK chief M Karunanidhi today said his party will move the Supreme Court against the Madras High Court closing a plea against Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in a case relating to her allegedly furnishing false information while filing nomination for the 2001 assembly polls.


A Division Bench of the High Court, comprising Justice Elipe Dharma Rao and Justice R Mala, had held that the petition filed by former DMK MP C Kuppusamy, who died last week, stands 'abated'. It had also dismissed a petition by DMK MP AKS Vijayan seeking to substitute himself as petitioner and continue the proceedings.

In a party statement here, Karunanidhi said there was precedence that a litigation cannot be dismissed in the wake of the petitioner's death and based on this, steps will be taken to file an appeal in the Supreme Court by Vijayan.

Karunanidhi recalled that Kuppusamy and Vijayan besides some others had appealed to the Election Commission of India in 2001 against Jayalalithaa, contending that providing false information was punishable offence.

Kuppusamy, Parliamentary party Leader in 2002, had filed a petition against Jayalalithaa and since a senior member of the party had filed the case, Vijayan did not file any separate litigation, Karunanidhi said.

Karunanidhi said Jayalalithaa filed nominations from four constituencies in 2001 and had given a declaration that she had not been or would be nominated as a candidate for more than two constituencies.

In November last, the Supreme Court had set aside a 2007 direction of the Madras High Court asking authorities to initiate action against Jayalalithaa and referred the matter back to the High Court for fresh disposal.