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Veerappan's associates may want
a say in the case before SC

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

With the Dr Rajakumar kidnap episode deadlocked for the moment, Veerappan's associates, whose release from jails in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as demanded by the bandit is the subject matter of a petition before the Supreme Court, may want to be impleaded in the pending proceedings.

Indications are that the five TADA detenues in Tamil Nadu, and 121 accused in Karnataka, including 51 in prison, may move the apex court before the adjourned hearing in the case resumes on October 30.

According to a source, the complexities of the pending case before the Supreme Court notwithstanding, most of these associates of Veerappan have been in prison as under-trials, at times, for terms exceeding the maximum sentence period they would get if found guilty.

"The Supreme Court itself has highlighted the plight of such undertrials through various judgments," said the source.

"However, the entire issue has got enmeshed in the larger question of the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments yielding to the brigand's pressure, and also their powers under Section 321(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code to withdraw pending cases," the source said.

"Incidentally, it is this power of a state government which has come under a fresh judicial review now," he added.

In this context, the source referred to the Supreme Court's verdict in a Bihar case, where the power of the state government to institute or withdraw criminal proceedings 'in public interest', has been upheld.

He also referred to the withdrawal of the emergency-related "Baroda dynamite case" involving the incumbent defence minister, George Fernandes, when he was a member of the Morarji Desai government at the Centre.

Another case relates to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and his ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazagham. The state government withdrew the case related to an attempt on the life of then Congress president, Indira Gandhi, by some DMK workers after the two parties came closer to each other politically.

Incidentally, senior Congress leader, who fended off the 'murderous attack' on Indira Gandhi, and whom she called her third son, is now involved in the Dr Rajakumar kidnap imbroglio.

He is Tamil Nationalist Movement leader Pazha Nedumaran, who accompanied journalist emissary Nakkeeran Gopal, in the fifth leg of his mission to free Dr Rajakumar.

Indications, meanwhile, are that the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments may now await the Supreme Court verdict before proceeding further in the matter.

"Alternatively, they may wait for a clearer signal from Veerappan, before sending a mission to the forests," the source said.

The Rajakumar Abduction: complete coverage
The saga of Veerappan

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