DMK seeks Marina, Tamil Nadu says no, matter in court
TNN | Aug 8, 2018, 05.45 AM IST
Even before the ink on Kauvery Hospital’s death report of DMK chief M Karunanidhi could dry, his kin and party workers were dumbstruck by the state’s refusal to allot him a resting place on the Marina.
In a terse official statement, chief secretary Girija Vaidyanathan said: “Allocation could not be made for burial in Marina beach on Kamaraj Salai due to several cases pending in Madras high court and legalities involved. Instead, chief minister said the government was ready to offer two acres of land opposite to Anna University on Sardar Patel Road (Adyar), near Gandhi Mandapam, and the memorials of Rajaji and Kamaraj to bury the leader.”
DMK working president M K Stalin then made a public request to chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami for a Marina memorial for Karunanidhi. It quickly gathered steam with all other parties and leaders, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi and superstar Rajinikanth, calling upon the government to accept the request. DMK also rushed to the Madras high court and obtained midnight hearing of its case.
Acting chief justice Huluvadi G Ramesh agreed to hold the hearing of the case, which rests on the DMK’s demand that the five-time and longest serving chief minister of Tamil Nadu had a vested right to have a memorial on the Marina.
Midnight proceedings before the first bench of acting chief justice Huluvadi G Ramesh and Justice S S Sundar, held at the former’s residence, witnessed heated arguments with DMK counsel R S Bharathi arguing that the part of Marina beach where the memorials stood would not attract restrictive provisions of Coastal Regulation Zone.
Earlier, advocate S Doraiswamy, who had filed four PILs against a memorial for former chief minister Jayalalithaa inside the MGR memorial campus on the Marina, said he would withdraw the petitions, since the government was citing it as reason for denying a memorial for Karunanidhi. Five petitions are pending in the case on the subject.
Counsel for social activist K R ‘Traffic’ Ramaswamy, however, said he would not withdraw the PIL seeking removal of all Marina memorials. Arguments were completed by 1.10 am and the bench adjourned the hearing to 8am on Wednesday. ‘ULTIMATE HONOUR’
‘Official home hardly a status symbol in TN’
It was Karunanidhi, who as chief minister, built memorials for his predecessors C N Annadurai and M G Ramachandran. His rival J Jayalalithaa too is getting a beachside abode, although only inside MGR memorial complex, thanks to the efforts of the present government.
Since 1967, no chief minister barring O Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami, had an ‘official residence’ in Chennai. Nor has any bungalow been designated as chief minister bungalow in the state. Unlike in other states, an official residence is hardly a status symbol here.
TNN | Aug 8, 2018, 05.45 AM IST
Even before the ink on Kauvery Hospital’s death report of DMK chief M Karunanidhi could dry, his kin and party workers were dumbstruck by the state’s refusal to allot him a resting place on the Marina.
In a terse official statement, chief secretary Girija Vaidyanathan said: “Allocation could not be made for burial in Marina beach on Kamaraj Salai due to several cases pending in Madras high court and legalities involved. Instead, chief minister said the government was ready to offer two acres of land opposite to Anna University on Sardar Patel Road (Adyar), near Gandhi Mandapam, and the memorials of Rajaji and Kamaraj to bury the leader.”
DMK working president M K Stalin then made a public request to chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami for a Marina memorial for Karunanidhi. It quickly gathered steam with all other parties and leaders, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi and superstar Rajinikanth, calling upon the government to accept the request. DMK also rushed to the Madras high court and obtained midnight hearing of its case.
Acting chief justice Huluvadi G Ramesh agreed to hold the hearing of the case, which rests on the DMK’s demand that the five-time and longest serving chief minister of Tamil Nadu had a vested right to have a memorial on the Marina.
Midnight proceedings before the first bench of acting chief justice Huluvadi G Ramesh and Justice S S Sundar, held at the former’s residence, witnessed heated arguments with DMK counsel R S Bharathi arguing that the part of Marina beach where the memorials stood would not attract restrictive provisions of Coastal Regulation Zone.
Earlier, advocate S Doraiswamy, who had filed four PILs against a memorial for former chief minister Jayalalithaa inside the MGR memorial campus on the Marina, said he would withdraw the petitions, since the government was citing it as reason for denying a memorial for Karunanidhi. Five petitions are pending in the case on the subject.
Counsel for social activist K R ‘Traffic’ Ramaswamy, however, said he would not withdraw the PIL seeking removal of all Marina memorials. Arguments were completed by 1.10 am and the bench adjourned the hearing to 8am on Wednesday. ‘ULTIMATE HONOUR’
‘Official home hardly a status symbol in TN’
It was Karunanidhi, who as chief minister, built memorials for his predecessors C N Annadurai and M G Ramachandran. His rival J Jayalalithaa too is getting a beachside abode, although only inside MGR memorial complex, thanks to the efforts of the present government.
Since 1967, no chief minister barring O Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami, had an ‘official residence’ in Chennai. Nor has any bungalow been designated as chief minister bungalow in the state. Unlike in other states, an official residence is hardly a status symbol here.
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