Chennai Jun 9 (IANS): DMK president M. Karunanidhi Friday came to the defence of P. Chidambaram and said the union home minister need not resign as he was not found guilty of electoral malpractices by the court.
In a letter to his partymen, Karunanidhi said: "It will be a mockery of legal proceedings and democracy if a person has to resign at the preliminary stage of the case itself, before the delivery of the judgment."
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday demanded the resignation of Chidambaram after the Madras High Court rejected his plea to dismiss the election petition challenging his victory in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
Taking a dig at Jayalalithaa who is facing a disproportionate assets case in a Bangalore court, Karunanidhi said the resignation demand would equally apply to those who get several adjournments.
He said the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court had struck down two of the 29 allegations made by AIADMK's Raja Kannappan in his election petition against Chidambaram's victory in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls from the Sivaganga constituency.
The trial on the remaining 27 allegations is yet to be held, Karunanidhi pointed out.