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'Fernandes has every right to meet Vaiko'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JULY 30. The Government faced an embarrassing half-hour in the Lok Sabha this morning when supplementaries to a question on Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) put it in the uncomfortable position of having to defend the Defence Minister, George Fernandes' meeting the MDMK leader, Vaiko, in prison.

Though the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, insisted that a member of the Government had every right to ``go and see a colleague of his in prison'', the Opposition continued to question the propriety of a Cabinet Minister visiting a person accused of supporting a banned terrorist organisation.

The issue came up for discussion as a supplementary to the INLD leader, Sushil Kumar Indora's question on the use of POTA.

While the Minister of State for Home, Vidyasagar Rao, sought to wrap up the question with a statement of facts, Mr. Indora persisted on getting an answer with special reference to Mr. Vaiko's case.

Intervening, Mr. Advani read out a statement that contained known details of Mr. Vaiko's arrest without addressing the issue of whether or not POTA was misused. But a persistent Opposition launched a broadside on the Government, with the Congress leader, Priyaranjan Dasmunshi questioning the propriety of Mr. Fernandes' visit.

While efforts were made to dodge the question, Shivraj Patil (Cong.) reminded the Government that it was accountable to Parliament; adding that the Opposition did not want a ``technical answer''. Giving in, Mr. Advani said there was no law in the land which prohibited a member of the Government from meeting someone in prison.

About Mr. Vaiko's arrest, Mr. Advani said the decision was that of the State Government and that it would not be right on his part to comment on whether the State had acted correctly as it could prejudice the judiciary.

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