The DMK has met twin blow this week with its chief M Karunanidhi coming under scanner for misappropriation of public money to the tune of Rs 380 crore and the police filing criminal case against the party’s Tirunelveli district secretary for trying to sexually abuse a party worker. The charges have come at a time when the DMK is reeling under fresh sibling rivalry for the control of the party.
The Madras High Court this week asked the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to register a case against Karunanidhi following a petition by B Ramesh Babu, a young lawyer, that the DMK chief has misappropriated Government funds worth crores under the pretext of the “World Classical Tamil Conference” held at Coimbatore in June 2010.
The contention of Babu was that the conference was held with the sole purpose of ‘singing paeans to Karunanidhi and his clan’. “Karunanidhi, the then Chief Minister, declared that it cost the Government Rs 380 crore for organising the conference. But a Government statement released put the figure at Rs 301 crore,” said the lawyer.
Babu filed an RTI application in this regard. “The Secretary, Tamil Development, in his reply stated that an amount of Rs 262.63 crore was spent on the conference while the Principal Accountant General revealed that the Government spent Rs 151.22 crore. There are a lot of discrepancies in these claims. There is enough reason to believe that Rs 200 crore has been misappropriated by those in the power at that time,” alleged Babu.
He also claimed that the World Classical Tamil Conference itself was a fraud committed on the people of Tamil Nadu by Karunanidhi. The event was an out-and-out show by the Karunanidhi family where his wives, children, and grandchildren held central stage. Meanwhile, the Tirunelveli Police registered a case against Karuppasamy Pandian following complaint by Tamilarasi (31), a local DMK woman worker. Tamilarasi said in her complaint that she had requested Pandian to allot some responsibilities for the party to her. Pandian asked her to leave her mobile number to his confidant Allal Karthik.
According to Tamilarasi, Karthik rang her up on August 28 and asked her to come at Pandian’s bunglow at Courtallam. She went to Courtallam with her father. Pandian asked her father to wait outside and took Tamilarasi inside. She alleged that Pandian asked her for sexual favour as a price for accommodating her in the party. A shocked Tamilarasi approached Karunanidhi and heir apparent Stalin. But the father-son duo was indifferent to her complaint which made her approach the police with complaint of sexual abuse.
The Tirunelveli police registered a case against Pandian. His plea to restrain the media from publishing news about Tamilarasi’s complaint against him has been dismissed by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court.