No reprieve for Jayalalithaa as HC defers hearing to Oct 6

The judge stated that in the event October 6 being a holiday, the matter will be taken up on the following day October 7.

Justice Rathnakala had on Tuesday initially posted the hearing of the appeal filed by Jayalalitha and others to October 6 but advocates for Jayalalithaa had moved the registrar judicial and the Chief Justice of Karnataka for an early hearing and the case was posted for Wednesday.

As soon as the proceedings began on Wednesday Justice Rathnakala sought out the Special Public Prosecutor in the case. With the SPP G Bhavani Singh not present in the court when proceedings began, the judge moved to adjourn the case, but the SPP soon appeared and stated that he was ready to represent the prosecution in the case. The Special Public Prosecutor subsequently filed a memo of appearance and a statement of objections to the pleas filed by Jayalalithaa.

He stated in his objections that Jayalalithaa, as the former CM of Tamil Nadu, is an influential person and that if she is released on bail it would be difficult to secure her arrest again. The SPP has also stated in his objections that Criminal Procedure Code does not allow for the suspension of conviction as sought by Jayalalithaa and three other co-accused and that provisions exist only for the suspension of the sentence.

Senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani appeared for Jayalalithaa along with her regular lawyer M A Venugopal and AIADMK MP Navneet Krishna. A delegation of AIADMK advocates approached the registrar judicial of the Karnataka High Court with a request to post the hearing at the earliest available date. The high court is however officially closed till Monday for Dussehra and there will be no sitting of even a vacation bench over the next three days, the lawyers were told.