A special Court here today rejected the Tamil Nadu government’s plea to withdraw the POTA case against MDMK chief Vaiko and eight others. Special Judge L. Rajendran ruled that the prosecution against Vaiko cannot be withdrawn on the basis of the ‘‘premature and arbitrary’’ orders of the Central POTA Review Committee, which had declared that there is no prima facie case against Vaiko and the other leaders. ‘‘This court does not accept the findings of the POTA review committee,’’ he said. As the judge read out the ‘‘operative portion’’ of his order, five minutes past noon at the Poonamallee Court, disappointed MDMK cadres who had assembled since morning, abandoned their bundle of crackers and party flags and left the court complex. Vaiko, who is on the 29th day of his padayatra across Tamil Nadu, however, said he is not surprised. ‘‘I anticipated this judgment. I am not at all surprised,’’ he told The Indian Express over phone from Omandur in Tamil Nadu. ‘‘Given my previous experience with the POTA court, I was convinced that the outcome will not be anything different.’’ The MDMK leader said he is confident justice will ultimately prevail and that he would continue his ‘‘legal battle’’. ‘‘The Fascist Jayalalithaa government had misled the Supreme Court by saying the government would withdraw the case,’’ he charged. Vaiko’s counsel, Devadaoss, told the media a decision on whether to move the Supreme Court against today’s order would be decided after consulting legal experts. The judge said the review committee’s finding is ‘‘destitute of any valid material’’ except the speech delivered by the accused at the public meeting in Thirumangalam on June 29, 2002 (in support of the LTTE). The judge said the review committee had ‘‘prematurely’’ concluded on the issue ‘‘without having any opportunity to analyse the complete materials relied upon by the prosecution as available before the court’’. Moreover, the trial was in progress and ‘‘the evidence is not yet concluded’’, he added. Vaiko was arrested under POTA on July 11, 2002, for his speech at the meeting and lodged in Vellore Jail for 19 months. He was released on bail on February 7, 2004. The Public Prosecutor, in his application for withdrawal of the case against Vaiko, had relied on the review committee’s finding. The judge today said the PP had assigned ‘‘no independent, convincing reasons’’ in seeking consent to withdraw the prosecution case against the accused.
