DMK moves Madras HC as govt rejects its request for burial at Marina

DMK moves Madras HC as govt rejects its request for burial at Marina

DMK moves Madras HC as govt rejects its request for burial at Marina

A high-pitched legal battle unfolded hours after DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi breathed his last at a Chennai hospital on Tuesday, with the state government turning down DMK's request for the burial of its leader at Marina near the memorial of party founder Annadurai. The DMK has moved the Madras High Court which is hearing the case at the residence of Acting Chief Justice Huluvadi G. Ramesh.

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the Corporation of Greater Chennai from permitting any burial of bodies on the famous Marina Beach was dismissed as withdrawn.

The AIADMK government rejected DMK's request citing several pending cases in the Madras High Court and legal complications. The government also said in a statement that it is prepared to allot a two-acre site on Sardar Patel Road near the memorials to Rajaji and Kamaraj. 

Reports said the government was reluctant about allotting space for Karunanidhi's burial at the Marina as he was not a sitting chief minister. Former chief ministers M.G. Ramachandran and Jayalalitha were buried at the Marina beach and memorials to them were erected there. Both were bitter foes of Karunanidhi in politics. Karunanidhi's predecessor Annadurai was also in office when he died.

Earlier, a PIL filed in the Madras High Court seeking to restrain the Corporation of Greater Chennai from permitting any burial of bodies on the Marina Beach was dismissed as withdrawn.

When the bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Huluvadi G Ramesh and Justice S S Sundar began the day's hearings, petitioner V. Gandhimathi made an urgent mention and sought permission to withdraw her plea.

The petitioner had submitted that the coastal area of Marina was being turned into a burial ground, which not only spoiled the aesthetics but also endangered the ecosystem in and around the beach. She had sought a direction to the Corporation not to permit burials in the area.

If any further burials and resultant construction were allowed at the Marina, it would damage the environment, she had said.

(With inputs from PTI)