SC issues notice to Jayalalithaa over acquittal in disproportionate assets case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today sought a response from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and three others in connection with the appeal filed against Karnataka High Court verdict acquitting them in a disproportionate assets case.

A bench comprising justices PC Ghose and RK Agrawal also issued notices to Jayalalithaa’s close aide Sasikala and two of her relatives, VN Sudhakaran and Elavarasi. The court has asked them to file their replies within eight weeks.

The Karnataka HC order had on 11 May ruled that the AIADMK supremo’s conviction by the special court suffered from infirmity and was not sustainable in law. I had cleared the decks for her return as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.

The Karnataka government in its appeal against the high court verdict had argued that the state government’s prosecuting agency was not made a party before the High court.

The petition, filed through advocate Joseph Aristotle, had also claimed that the High Court erred in computing the disproportionate assets of the AIADMK leader.

The state government in the petition had asked whether the High Court had “erred in law” by according the benefit of doubt to Jayalalithaa. The high court had done so in pursuance of a Supreme Court judgement that said an accused can be acquitted if his or her disproportionate assets was upto ten per cent more than known known sources of income.

The government also claimed that the High Court has erred in law in over-ruling the preliminary objections raised by the state government and added that the accused had filed their appeals against conviction without impleading Karnataka as a party.

A special court had last year held Jayalalithaa guilty of corruption and sentenced her to four years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 100 crore.

PTI