One man commission readied a seven-page questionnaire for Karunanidhi
DMK President M. Karunanidhi
Chennai: DMK president M. Karunanidhi may have some different or rather difficult answering to do in a few days. The one-man commission, probing alleged irregularities in the construction of the new secretariat in Omandurar Estate during the previous DMK regime, has readied a seven-page questionnaire for Karunanidhi and his party senior, Durai Murugan, to answer.
Commission chairman retired high court judge Raghupathy, issued summons to Karunanidhi and Durai Murugan last Thursday to personally appear and answer 54 and 35 questions at 11 am on September 18. The judge who received the vakalat filed by the two leaders’ counsels last week has allowed the lawyers to see all the documents (running upto 4,000 pages), except the questionnaire, on September 16.
“The judge insists that he will only give the questionnaire to them (Karunanidhi and Durai Murugan). How will they answer on September 18 if they are not given the questionnaire in advance,” said V. Arun, counsel for Durai Murugan. “It is not legally necessary for them to appear or collect the questionnaire in person after their vakalats are accepted,” DMK legal wing secretary R.S. Bharati remarked.
“We filed an application, seeking 11 items, including the order of appointment of the commission head, list of witnesses who had deposed and documents collected by the commission thus far,” Arun told Deccan Chronicle, accusing the commission of arbitrarily issuing the summons without considering their application.
“The judge said we could see the documents, if necessary, and collect copies on payment of a required sum on September 16. The commission is duty-bound to provide all relevant documents to those summoned free of cost,” Arun argued.
“Over 60 people, including several IAS officers, have deposed so far. Leave alone cross-examining them, we don’t even know who they are. But the judge has straightaway asked them to answer questions,” DMK advocate Giri Rajan said, accusing the judge of running the trial like an ‘in-camera’ proceeding by engaging one advocate at a time even as the Commissions of Inquiry Act allows the defendants to peruse all documents and cross-examine all witnesses before concluding the trial.
( Source : dc )
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