The Madras High Court has ruled that M Karunanidhi to be laid to rest next to his mentor, DMK founder C N Annadurai’s memorial, at Marina Beach in Chennai on Wednesday. With the demise of five-time Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi at 6:10 pm at Kauveri Hospital in Chennai on Tuesday, the controversy over his burial has gained momentum. The State government had denied permission to allot space for Kalaignar’s burial at Marina Beach.
Questioning the AIADMK’s legal ground for not allotting space for Karunanidhi, DMK lawyer argued there is no prohibition under Central government protocol to allot land at Marina beach for ex-CMs. He also argued that not allowing the site would offend one crore DMK followers of Tamil Nadu, who are waiting for the High Court’s decision with a hope. The matter was heard by Acting Chief Justice Huluvadi G Ramesh, who was listening to the special petitions since last night.
Presenting the case, the State government’s counsel said that the site can only be offered for the acting Chief Ministers and not former ones. The counsel for the state government said that DMK chief Karunanidhi himself didn’t allot land for former CM Janaki Ramachandran after understanding the protocol manual, when he was the CM.
The tiff between the DMK and the ruling AIADMK became worse after permission was not granted for former CM M Karunanidhi’s corpse to be laid beside to his mentor C N Annadurai’s memorial at the iconic Marina Beach in Chennai. Soon after that DMK moved to the Madras High Court with an appeal to bury Karunanidhi’s mortal remains at Chennai’s Marina Beach.