Centre to file fresh affidavit in Vaiko case

The Centre on Sunday described as a "mistake" an affidavit that it filed in the Supreme Court supporting the Tamil Nadu government's application of the Prevention of Terrorism Act against Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief Vaiko.

The government moved into damage-control mode after its ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam held fasts across Tamil Nadu demanding the repeal of POTA.

When DMK leader and Union minister T R Baalu raised the issue at a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance in New Delhi on Sunday, Law Minister Arun Jaitley said what had appeared in the media was not the government's stand.

After the meeting, Bharatiya Janata Party president M Venkaiah Naidu said the government would make its stand clear in the apex court on Monday

A law ministry official said a fresh affidavit would be file din the court.

"We will tell the Supreme Court that the public speech given by Vaiko [because of which he was detained] did not contain anything that would amount to an offence under the provisions of POTA," he said.

On realising that the affidavit was contrary to its instructions, the government asked Attorney General Soli Sorabjee to take corrective steps, he said.

The attorney general held his juniors responsible for the faux pas

"The government's view always has been and is that POTA is constitutional. That has been stated throughout in the affidavit. Some one or two sentences that have crept in are obviously due to misapprehensions at the junior level and that will be corrected immediately tomorrow," Sorabjee said.