In a major blow to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, the Supreme Court Monday ordered the transfer of the proceedings of a murder case in the state involving his eldest son M K Azhagiri to a sessions court in Chittor of Andhra Pradesh for an expeditious and fair trial.
Senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for Azhagiri opposed the move saying that the sessions court in Tamil Nadu was conducting an impartial trial. Two witnesses in the case had filed petitions seeking transfer of the case owing to the political clout Azhagiri enjoyed in Tamil Nadu.
It was alleged that former DMK minister T Kiruttinan was murdered in May 2003 by some party workers allegedly instigated by Azhagiri, as they envied his growing popularity within the DMK, when the former nursed the ambition of assuming the party’s mantle from the ageing Karunanidhi.