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Tuesday, May 13, 2008
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Statue desecrators to be held under Goondas Act

Special Correspondent

DVAC chief not raided: Karunanidhi
“Security for Jayalalithaa as per Centre’s directions”

CHENNAI: The Goondas Act will be amended to hold in prison persons who indulge in desecration of statues, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi informed the Assembly on Monday.

Replying to the two-day long debate on the demands for grants for the Police department, he said that a Bill would be introduced in the current session for this purpose.

Under the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug-offenders, Forest-offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders and Slum-grabbers Act, 1982, commonly referred to as the Goondas Act, a person will not be able to come out on bail for a year.

The Chief Minister said the constitution of the Shanmugham Commission was duly notified as mandated in an English newspaper and a Tamil newspaper. It was unfortunate that the member who raised the issue did not even read the newspapers.

The other question was that of the raid on Director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption S.K. Upadhyay. Mr. Karunanidhi said that no raid was conducted on the DVAC chief. On behalf of the Shanmugham Commission, his computer was taken away. The government was in no way connected with this, he said. Even Chief Secretary L.K. Tripathy’s computer was taken away on the directions of the Commission, he said.

On the question of security for AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa, who was in the Z plus category, he said that a case related to it was in the High Court. She had sought, among other things, a closed-circuit television for the perimeter of her residence, jammers, patrol vehicles and ambulance apart from a bullet proof vehicle.

Mr. Karunanidhi said the government had provided her security as per the directions of the Centre. “We can only act as per law,” he said, adding that if the High Court or the Supreme Court directed the State government to provide more security for her, it would do so.

Earlier, as the Chief Minister entered the Assembly hall, members from the ruling and Opposition parties, barring the AIADMK, gave him a standing ovation. The DMK government assumed office on May 13, 2006.

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