Legal battle on resting place for Karunanidhi

A massive controversy erupted on Tuesday night after the Tamil Nadu Government rejected Opposition DMK’s demand for allotting space on the Marina beach for the burial of its leader M Karunanidhi and offered space near the memorials of former Chief Ministers C Rajagopalachari and K Kamaraj. The DMK has moved the Madras High Court acting Chief Justice against the Government’s decision. The HC was still hearing the plea till the paper went to press.

Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Sitaram Yechury and D Raja, besides actor Rajinikanth backed the DMK’s demand and urged the State Government to allot the leader a space on the famed sands.

Incidentally, the development came on a day when a PIL filed in the Madras High Court seeking to restrain the Corporation of Greater Chennai from permitting any burial of bodies on the famous Marina Beach was dismissed as withdrawn on Tuesday.

DMK working president MK Stalin, recalling the long public life of Karunanidhi, had written to Chief Minister K Palaniswami seeking space inside the mausoleum complex of the departed leader’s mentor CN Annadurai at the Marina.

A Government statement said it was “unable to allot space at the Marina beach owing to several pending cases in the Madras High Court and legal complications.”

Hence, the Government is prepared to allot a two-acre site on Sardar Patel Road near the memorials to Rajaji and Kamaraj, the Government statement said.