Madras high court allows Karunanidhi's body to be buried at Marina Beach
Chennai, Aug 8 : After an overnight drama, the DMK won a legal battle on wednesday when the Madras High Court allowed the burial of DMK President and five-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi at Marina Beach.
The High Court bench comprising of Acting Chief Justice Huluvadi G Ramesh and Justice S.S. Sundar turned down the arguments of the state government against the burial of Karunanidhi's body at Marina Beach.
DMK leader and lawyer Kannadasan told reporters that the court also asked the government to make arrangements for the burial.
The party cadres and leaders assembled at Rajaji Hall, where Karunanidhi's body has been lying in state for public homage, erupted in joy on hearing the news.
An emotional M.K. Stalin, DMK's Working President and son of Karunanidhi broke down on hearing the news and so did top leaders including Duraimurugan, A.Raja and M. Kanimozhi, who is alos Karunanidhi's daughter.
Duraimurugan and A. Raja comforted Stalin and other family members including former Union Minister and Karunanidhi's grand nephew Dayanidhi Maran and Kanimozhi.
Earlier all the petitioners who had filed a case against the memorial for AIADMK's late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa said they are withdrawing their petitions and the court dismissed their pleas.
The DMK wanted Karunanidhi to be interred near the seafront memorial of DMK founder and Karunanidhi's mentor C.N. Annadurai.
The DMK approached the Madras High Court on Tuesday night after the state government declined their request. The hearing went on till midnight when the court adjourned the case directing the state government and Chennai Corporation to file their affidavits on Wednesday.
The AIADMK government late on Tuesday rejected the request and asked the DMK to bury Karunanidhi on Sardar Patel Road which is home to memorials dedicated to Rajaji (C. Rajagopalachari) and K. Kamaraj.
The court asked the government counsel to explain the legal issues in allotting space at Marina Beach as mentioned in the statement issued by the government on Tuesday.
The DMK counsel argued that the government is citing minor issues for rejecting the party's request for space at Marina Beach for burying Karunanidhi.
The DMK said Karunanidhi is an ardent follower of party founder and Annadurai. Since AIADMK founder M.G. Ramachandran was also a follower of Annadurai he was buried near the latter's memorial.
According to DMK, the ideologies of late Congress leaders like Rajagopalachari and Kamaraj are different from that of what was followed by Dravidian leaders like Annadurai and Karunanidhi.
Hence it will not be appropriate to bury Karunanidhi at the site offered by the state government.
The DMK also argued that the Chennai Corporation has announced the Annadurai memorial Beach as a burial site.
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Bengal: Over 55 pc turnout till 1 pm in repoll in 15 booths of 2 assembly seats
Kolkata (PTI): Over 55 per cent turnout was recorded till 1 pm in repoll in 15 booths of two assembly constituencies in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district on Saturday, an official said.
Voting was underway more or less peacefully at 11 polling stations of Magrahat Paschim assembly constituency and four in Diamond Harbour, where the EC ordered repoll a day ago, following reports of electoral malpractices.
However, at booth number 179 at Chanda Primary School of Diamond Harbour seat, the Trinamool Congress alleged that a specially abled voter and his mother were harassed by central forces. The alleged incident sparked protests by party workers and locals.
The TMC claimed that the voter's mother, who had entered the booth to assist him, and her son were detained for a considerable time by central forces over alleged rule violations.
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"TMC leaders Manmohini Biswas and Pratik Ur Rahman reached the spot and led the protests, with residents terming the action unwarranted harassment. The matter has been taken care of by our officials there," an official of the poll body said.
Polling was otherwise peaceful across 15 booths in the area, he added.
Voting began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, the official said, adding that till 1 pm, the turnout was 55.57 per cent.
Magrahat Paschim registered 56.33 per cent voter turnout, while in Diamond Harbour, it was 54.9 per cent, a poll official stated.
Voting in these two assembly constituencies was held in the second phase of the state elections on April 29.
The repoll order was based on reports received from returning officers and observers of the two constituencies and "material circumstances", the Election Commission official said.
In Magrahat Paschim, TMC's Md Samim Ahamed Molla is pitted against BJP nominee Goursundar Ghosh, while Abdul Majid Halder of the Congress and ISF candidate Abdul Aziz Al Hassan are also in the fray.
TMC candidate Panna Lal Halder is contesting against Dipak Kumar Halder of the BJP in the Diamond Harbour seat. Goutam Bhattacharya of the Congress and CPI(M)'s Samar Naiya are among other candidates.
The BJP had alleged rampant electoral malpractices in certain polling stations of both the assembly seats under the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency, which is represented by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
The EC had deputed its special observer, Subrata Gupta, to fact-check the allegations from the ground.
The poll panel will decide on repolling in the Falta assembly constituency on Saturday.
The West Bengal assembly elections were held in two phases -- April 23 and April 29 -- amid unprecedented security arrangements.
Counting of votes will take place on May 4.
