Since Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay assumed office, MLAs of the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and some party office-bearers, often accompanied by camerapersons, have carried out well-publicised inspections of government hospitals, TASMAC liquor outlets, Amma Unavagam centres and other public facilities. While elected representatives are empowered to inspect government offices within their constituencies, no such authority extends to party functionaries.

Interestingly, 25 years ago, a DMK MLA was arrested for conducting one such “inspection,” and a television journalist who filmed it became a collateral victim of political excesses.

A month after the AIADMK-led alliance swept the 2001 Assembly elections, then Food Minister P. Dhanapal, who recently quit the party, alleged that thousands of tonnes of rice stored in Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) godowns during the previous DMK regime had gone “rotten.”

On the morning of June 26, DMK MLA K. Ponmudi, a former Minister, visited a TNCSC godown in Villupuram to inspect the rice stock. Scooping out rice from a sack and displaying it to journalists accompanying him, he asked: “Where is it spoilt?”

As footage of the MLA’s inspection was aired on television news channels, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was reportedly furious. That night, just as Mr. Ponmudi and Vetrikondan, a fiery DMK speaker, were stepping down from the dais after addressing a public meeting near the Periyar Statue in Villupuram, police arrested the MLA. Officers informed him that TNCSC officials had filed a complaint accusing him of “trespass.” Mr. Ponmudi, however, maintained that he had obtained permission from officials to visit the godown.

As DMK cadres protested the arrest, the Food Minister issued a statement accusing Mr. Ponmudi of selectively displaying only good-quality rice in the video while concealing the allegedly “rotten” stock. According to a report in The Hindu archives, the Minister claimed the public knew that 1.25 lakh tonnes of rice procured during the previous regime was unfit for consumption.

The following day, DMK president and former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi warned that his party would not indefinitely tolerate what he described as the AIADMK government foisting one case after another on DMK members. “Everything has its limits, and we are running out of patience,” he said.

The DMK leader argued that Mr. Ponmudi, as the elected representative of Villupuram constituency, had visited the godown only to ascertain the truth behind the allegations regarding “rotten rice stock.” He lamented that “an MLA trying to do his duty has now been hauled up for trespass.”

Karunanidhi’s question and a journalist’s arrest

Karunanidhi then posed a question that inadvertently triggered the arrest of a journalist. According to a report in The Hindu, he asked whether the Jayalalithaa government would also proceed against journalists for “trespassing” into the TNCSC godown. He pointed out Mr. Ponmudi’s actions were no different from those of independent MLA Appavu, who had earlier taken reporters to the Kalakad forest area in Tirunelveli district to explain certain facts amid allegations of teak tree felling.

That night, police singled out Sun TV’s Villupuram reporter, Suresh, and arrested him on charges of “trespass,” even though journalists from several other media organisations had accompanied the former Minister. The reason was not difficult to discern: Sun TV, owned by Karunanidhi’s extended family members, was widely seen as sympathetic to the DMK.

On June 28, journalists attempted to submit a representation to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa near the Secretariat portico, urging her to order Mr. Suresh’s release. Jayalalithaa declined to accept the petition and instructed her driver to move on. In the commotion that followed, a vehicle in her convoy brushed against a woman journalist.

Angered by the incident, journalists, including this correspondent, rushed out through the Secretariat main gate and blocked the Chief Minister’s convoy on Kamarajar Salai. Police subsequently registered a case against the journalists.

A report in The Hindu noted that “distinguished journalists including Mr. N. Ram, Editor, Frontline; Mr. Cho S. Ramaswamy, Editor, Thuglak; and Mr. K. Rajendran, Publisher, Kalki,” issued a joint statement condemning the arrest and urging the State government to release Mr. Suresh immediately.

On June 29, a group of 151 journalists, including several Editors, were arrested near the State Guest House while attempting to march to the Secretariat. They were detained at the Vepery Police Station and informed the police that they were willing to remain in custody unless Mr. Suresh was released.

That evening, the government advocate chose not to oppose Mr. Suresh’s bail plea, and he walked free. The protesting journalists subsequently dispersed.

Just past midnight, however, Karunanidhi was arrested at his Oliver Road residence after the CB-CID hurriedly registered a corruption case relating to the construction of flyovers. Journalists found themselves back in the field and near the Government Estate, where Karunanidhi was initially taken after his arrest. The police manhandled some journalists.

Some weeks later, Jayalalithaa announced she had directed the police to withdraw the cases registered against journalists who had blocked her convoy.