The Tamil Nadu government on Monday decided to impose the Prevention of Terrorism Act against Union minister and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam treasurer M Kannappan for his alleged support to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
This is the first time that a state government has decided to impose POTA on a central minister.
The government also demanded that Kannappan be sacked from the Union ministry. MDMK chief Vaiko for more than a year now under POTA on the same charge.
In a five-page letter to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa termed Kannappan's conduct as 'anti-national' and said his open support to LTTE had rendered him ineligible to continue in office as a Union minister.
Declaring her intentions not to wait indefinitely for Vajpayee to take action against the minister, she warned that in the event of the prime minister not taking action due to 'compelling political reasons' the state government would be constrained to take action.
She said Kannappan by supporting the LTTE has committed an offence under section 21(1)(2) of POTA and violated the oath while taking office.
Kannappan was continuously offending the mandatory provisions of POTA and the state could not wait endlessly without taking action against him, she said.
"No law prevents a central minister from being arrested by the state government in public interest and public discipline if he or she indulges in activities against the law of the land and prosecution can be initiated by the state government," she said.
Justifying her demand for the sacking of Kannappan, Jayalalithaa told Vajpayee the minister's 'audacity' in indulging in such flagrant violation of law was only due to the position he was holding.
Jayalalithaa, who had last year also demanded the dismissal of Kannappan, said he got 'emboldened' only because the prime minister did not take effective action against him.
"I am requesting you to personally intervene in the matter as continuance of such a person in the Union Council of Ministers would compromise national security," she said.
She pointed out that at a book release function on September 16, Kannappan had openly declared his party's allegiance to the LTTE. He had also said that MDMK general secretary and POTA detainee Vaiko was right in supporting the banned organisation.