PTI

New Delhi, Sep 30: Ruling DMK front in Tamil Nadu on Sunday suffered a major setback with the Supreme Court restraining them from going ahead with the state-wide bandh on Momday on the Sethusamudram project issue.

Holding a rare sitting on a Sunday, a bench of Acting Chief Justice B N Aggrawal and P P Naolekar ordered that the DMK and its allies shall not go ahead with the bandh either on October one or any other date, as the bandh per se was illegal and unconstitutional in view of the apex court's earlier ruling on the validity of 'bandhs.'

The apex court passed the direction on an "urgent application" filed by the opposition AIADMK along with its special leave petition seeking an injunction against the bandh.

The three-hours arguments that preceded the direction was laced with scathing and stinging remarks from the bench which minced no words in expressing its strong displeasure onthe very concept of bandh and the perceived defiance of law by the citizens in the country, not to mention the political parties.

"That's the problem in this country. We have to deal everything with an iron hand in this country. Otherwise things will not work. Every organ, let it be the legislature, executive or judiciary has to deal with an iron hand," the apex court observed.
   
Recalling that the apex court had in 1998 clearly upheld the ruling of a full bench of the Kerala High Court that calling or enforcing a bandh was illegal and unconstitutional, the bench regretted that orders of the courts were being violated with impunity in the country.