POTA panel clears Vaiko

‘‘The declaration on the floor of the Lok Sabha that he had been and would be a supporter of the LTTE was on account of his having been heckled during the debate in Parliament,’’ the report said. ‘‘In the address made extempore at the public meeting, accused no. 1 (Vaiko) was only quoting his utterance on the floor of the Lok Sabha, while telling his electorate about his determination and tireless efforts to bring succour to the long-suffering Eelam Tamils.’’

Intention to support LTTE or further its terrorist activities, much less, the intention to encourage such support, cannot be inferred from his address, the panel said. In view of these observations, Vaiko’s speech does not fall within the ambit of Section 21(3) of POTA.

Neither do the speeches of the other accused, condemning the resolution of Tamil Nadu Assembly, have any material to warrant application of POTA, the panel said. Further, there is absolutely no evidence indicating that the accused no 5 to 9 had ‘‘knowledge’’ that the meeting would be used for encouraging support for the LTTE, the panel said.

The POTA Review Committee also asked the Tamil Nadu government to instruct the public prosecutor to seek appropriate orders from the courts concerned.

With Vaiko cleared, the verdict is now awaited in the POTA case against Nakkeeran editor R. Gopal.