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Hyderabad:
Press Council of India (PCI) chairman Markanday Katju Friday asked
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa to suspend 30 policemen
involved in the illegal arrest of an editor of a daily nearly
three years ago or resign.
Taking serious note of the government's inability to comply with
two PCI orders in the case passed in April and August 2012,
Justice Katju directed the state administration to immediately
suspend, chargesheet and arrest the policemen.
The PCI chief said a chief minister should resign if he or she is
unable to rule in accordance with the constitution.
During an opening hearing by the PCI inquiry committee here,
Justice Katju said it was deeply regrettable that Tamil Nadu
authorities showed total disrespect to the two PCI orders.
The PCI was dealing with a complaint by S. Manimaran, the editor
of "Thinaboomi", a Tamil daily published from Madurai. It was one
of 20 cases heard by the panel.
The editor alleged that policemen barged into his house July 21,
2010, and took him away, along with his son, without a warrant.
They were jailed and treated like criminals by police, he said.
Maniraman alleged that a false case was booked against him on a
complaint by the president of the granite quarry owners'
association as he was writing against illegal granite mining in
Madurai district.
"We had expected that 30 policemen who had committed high-handed
and illegal act of barging into the complainant's house in the
night would have been suspended, arrested and charge sheeted, but
that was not done. Even today, neither the district collector nor
the home secretary appeared before us in sheer defiance of our
orders," the PCI said in its orders.
"It is the solemn duty of the Tamil Nadu administration to comply
with orders of this committee. The Tamil Nadu government finds
itself unable to run the administration in accordance with the
constitution. It has no right to continue in office and should
quit. We ask the Tamil Nadu government to submit its resignation
or if it does not wish to do so, it must immediately order the
arrest, charge sheeting and suspension of those policemen who
behaved in a highly undemocratic and illegal manner towards the
complainant," the PCI chief said.
"In our opinion, filing the criminal case can't be made an excuse
to escape action from the Press Council in connection with the
freedom of press," he added.
"A large section of policemen in this country still think that
they are living in British times and act in a high-handed and
undemocratic manner and trample on the civil liberties of the
citizens guaranteed by the fundamental rights of our constitution.
It is time that they be taught a lesson how to behave in a
democratic manner," he observed.
During the hearing, Justice Katju repeatedly asked the government
lawyer to tell Jayalithaa to resign if she was unable to run the
administration in accordance with the constitution.
"Tell your chief minister to resign. Let the chief minister say
she is not able run the administration in accordance with the
constitution. Let the chief minister go to the governor and say
here is my resignation. Let the people of Tamil Nadu remain in
peace," he remarked.
"Are we living in a democracy or a dictatorship," Katju asked.
When the lawyer representing the Tamil Nadu government pointed out
that it was the DMK which was in power at the time the incident
occurred, Justice Katju said the previous orders were not against
any particular party.
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