When the writ petition from Jayalalitha seeking to quash a GO granting permission to celebrate Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's 75th birth-day at Nehru Stadium came up for hearing today, the AAG told the first bench comprising Chief Justice MS Liberhan and Justice E Padmanabhan that the Jayalalitha's birthday was also celebrated at the same venue, attended by over 50,000 people.

It would not be possible to change the venue now, he said, as all arrangements had been finalised. Precautions have been taken to safeguard the synthetic track. The Sports Development Authority will ensure that the track is not damaged, he said.

N Jyothi, Jayalalitha's counsel, brought to the notice of the bench certain GOs issued by the TN government earlier. They stated that the sports stadia in the city and districts should not beutilised for any public function.

R Krishnaswamy, counsel for the Tamil Film Producers Association, refused to give an undertaking, as demanded by the bench, to the effect that the association would replace the track, if damaged. The association is not that much financially sound to meet the cost for replacing the track, which would be about Rs 4 crore now. However, it can be ensured that damage, if any, could be rectified, he said.

The bench adjourned the matter till Friday.