DMK to move SC against Jayalalithaa

Chennai, April 27 (IANS) The DMK Saturday said it would move the Supreme Court against AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa for allegedly providing false declarations while filing her nomination papers during the 2001 assembly polls.

DMK president M. Karunanidhi announced that the party's member of parliament A.K.S. Vijayan would move the apex court, appealing against the Madras High Court's order in the case against Jayalalithaa, now chief minister of Tamil Nadu, for allegedly providing false declarations while filing her nomination papers.

In a statement issued here Karunanidhi said the high court April 25 dismissed Vijayan's petition to implead himself in the case following the death of DMK's C. Kuppusamy who is the original petitioner in the case.

The court also held the case filed by Kuppusamy stands abated following his death.

The DMK leader said just because a petitioner is dead the crime against which the case was filed will not vanish.

Further there are apex court decisions to the effect that a public interest litigation cannot be dismissed because of petitioner's death.

Karunanidhi said Vijayan was one of the DMK leaders who had approached the Election Commission (EC) in 2001 to prosecute Jayalalithaa for giving false declaration that she has not filed nomination papers in more than two constituencies and would also not be filing nominations for more than two seats.

Karunanidhi said as per rules, an individual cannot file election nomination for more than two constituencies. But Jayalalithaa filed her nominations from Krishnagiri, Andipatti, Bhuvanagiri and Pudukottai for the May 2001 elections.

As the EC did not act upon the complaints from the DMK functionaries, Kuppusamy filed a case in the Madras High Court in 2002.