DMK to appeal against acquittal of Jayalalithaa

Karunanidhi made the announcement at a meeting of the DMK’s district secretaries.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi said here on Monday that the party would file an appeal in the Supreme Court against the Karnataka High Court verdict acquitting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and others in the disproportionate assets case.

He made the announcement at a meeting of the DMK’s district secretaries.

Karunanidhi urges Karnataka to appeal

Defending his announcement here on Monday that his party would file an appeal against the acquittal of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and others in the disproportionate assets case, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi said the Supreme Court had ruled two times that the party had the locus standi to participate in the case.

At a party meeting, Mr. Karunanidhi said Special Public Prosecutor B.V. Acharya and Advocate-General, Karnataka, Ravi Varma Kumar had made out a strong case for an appeal. “Mr. Acharya, particularly, has warned that failure on the part of the Karnataka government to file an appeal would send a wrong message,” he said.

Expressing hope that the Congress government in Karnataka would take note of their advice, Mr. Karunanidhi recalled the decision of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy to file an appeal.

Party general secretary K. Anbazhagan, whose petition in the Supreme Court led to the transfer of the case to a special court in Karnataka, could not attend the meeting as he was unwell.

Mr. Karunanidhi commended a mega public meeting organised by the party in Madurai on Sunday, saying it would galvanise the cadres. He called upon the district secretaries to spread the message that the DMK had decided to file an appeal.