A public interest writ has been filed at the Madras High Court bench in Madurai by an MDMK functionary seeking special autonomous status to Tamil Nadu.
Petitioner A. Baskara Sethupathy, the State Secretary of MDMK’s Volunteers Wing, alleged that Tamil Nadu, being a non-Hindi speaking State is denied welfare measures by the Union Government.
Development activities such as setting up industrial units, power plants and other Union Government undertakings are based only in the ‘Hindi belt’, contended the petitioner’s counsel W. Peter Ramesh Kumar.
“Central funds and other benefits are denied to Tamil Nadu. Fishermen from the State are not considered Indians because no case for compensation is filed by the Government of India at the International Court of Justice, whereas 450 cases have been ordered in favour of India in the Somali pirates case involving North Indians”, the petitioner claimed.
Therefore, the Union Government should give an opportunity to the people of the State to decide if they prefer to remain with the Indian Republic, as of now, or if they prefer to have special autonomy.
According to the petitioner, he gave a representation to the Cabinet Secretary of the Union Government and the Chief Secretary of the State Government on March 21, 2013 to consider according special autonomy to Tamil Nadu. Since there was no reply he had moved the court, he claimed.
A division bench comprising Justices Chitra Venkataraman and S. Vimala adjourned the case to June 4.
