Mukul Rohatgi, the attorney general of the Union Government, has earned the wrath of the Pattali Makkal Katchi for appearing for the Kerala Bar Owners Association in the appeal against the Kerala Government order closing down the bars in the State. In a statement on Tuesday, party founder S Ramadoss condemned the Attorney General’s action of appearing for the Bar Owners Association. “It is a contradiction that Rohatgi who has to stand by the conscience of the people argued against public welfare. It may have been acceptable if he argued in a case for the welfare of the people but it is totally unacceptable that he stood in the court to support a social evil,” said Ramadoss.
The PMK founder questioned the credibility of the Attorney General who has been entrusted by the union government with the responsibility of taking a decision on liquor shops along the national highways in the country. “The case for closure of liquor shops along the National and State Highways in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Punjab and Haryana is being heard by the Supreme Court. The bench headed by Justice Kehar has opined that the liquor shops needed to be closed and had ordered the Attorney General on January 12 to convene a meeting of Central and State representatives to draft a new liquor policy,” said the PMK chief.
He further pointed out that even six months after the deadline set by the apex court, the Attorney General has failed to submit the new liquor policy. “Whenever the case comes for hearing in the Supreme Court, Rohatgi has made it a habit to avoid coming to the court citing some or other reasons. This had caused undue delay in closing down the liquor shops along the national and state highways,” pointed out Ramdoss.
The PMK chief said Rohatgi’s arguments were in favour of liquor shops along the highways. “Giving the responsibility of taking a decision on closure of liquor shops to Rohatgi is like keeping a cat to protect milk. Hence, he should be immediately relived from this responsibility,” demanded Ramadoss.