Bowing to his conscience, solicitor-general Mohan Parasaran has withdrawn from pleading the Centre’s petition before the Supreme Court for the implementation of the Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project. While his reason on the record is that his father K. Parasaran, eminent lawyer and former attorney-general, is appe-aring for one of the petitioners arguing against the Sethu project, there is a strong second reason too — Mr Parasaran’s devotion to Lord Ram.
In his communication to the Union law ministry, Mr Parasaran said he had learnt that his father had taken the brief for a petitioner opposing the project. Asked if his devotion to Lord Ram made him to withdraw from the Sethu case, he said, “I am a strong believer in Ram. I cannot question his existence. Also, I am close to many religious institutions and it would be awkward for me to argue that there’s nothing irreligious in breaking Ram Sethu.”
The opponents of the `25,000-crore project, who also include Tamil Nadu CM J. Jayalalithaa, insist that it would irreversibly destroy the eco-sensitive Palk Bay region, is grossly uneconomical and, worst of all, will damage the Ram Sethu, the bridge that the Ramayan says was built by Lord Ram’s monkey army.