72.3.2 It was vehemently argued by the learned counsel for the Government of Tamil Nadu that several protests had been made by responsible politicians during December 1990 and January 1991 that false and frivolous allegations were being made against the State of Tamilnadu and its administration and records fabricated solely for the purpose of dismissing the ruling Government. Leaders like Shri Indrajit Gupta had made such allegations. Shri K. Ramamurthy of TNCC(I) who had claimed at that time before the Parliament that the allegations were based on evidence, had, subsequently, failed to adduce any evidence before this Commission. Former Prime Minister Shri Chandrasekhar had also admitted when he was examined on 26.4.1994 before this Commission that even at the time when Shri Karunanidhi was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, steps were taken to curtail the activities of the LTTE and to curtail terrorism.

It has further been contended by the Government of Tamil Nadu that Shri P. Chidambaram , during his deposition before the Commission on 6.11.1996 had admitted that whatever he spoke in the Parliament regarding the allegations against the Tamilnadu administration, he had spoken as a spokesman of the Congress party; he made no effort to gather further particulars in respect of matters he referred to in his speech; he had also admitted during his deposition recorded on 21.11.1996 that his speech in Parliament reflected the position of his party on the issue of dismissal of the DMK Government and proclamation of President's Rule in Tamilnadu. He added "that was a political statement made on behalf of my party in the debate on President's Rule". There was no evidence submitted by either Shri Ramamurthy or Shri Chidambaram in support of their allegations made against the State of Tamilnadu, till date.

This contention of the Government of Tamil Nadu finds an answer in the deposition of Shri P. Chidambaram himself. Shri P. Chidambaram has asserted that he had made the speech in the Lok Sabha with a sense of responsibility and the allegations raised in his speech were correct to the best of his knowledge.

It is seen that Shri P. Chidambaram, during his deposition, also attempted to soft pedal the allegations by saying that he was reflecting his party's position in the Lok Sabha. This attempt of his, to dilute the contents of his speech in the Lok Sabha, is for what reasons, is best known to him, but it is known that there is political alignment of TMC with the DMK. However, in his deposition, Shri P. Chidambaram has nowhere denied the veracity of the facts on the basis of which he had raised the allegations, rather he has adhered to his speech.

Shri K. Ramamoorthy, during his deposition, has admitted that the allegations raised by him in his memorandum were largely based on press reports.

Even if the speech and the statement of Shri P. Chidambaram are ignored, the conclusions could not be otherwise.

The truthfulness of the allegations is required to be judged keeping in view the independent, reliable oral and documentary evidence available before the Commission.

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