The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the appointment of G. Bhavani Singh as Special Public Prosecutor by Tamil Nadu in the hearing of J. Jayalalithaa's plea by the Karnataka High Court against her conviction in a disproportionate assets case was flawed.
However, the appointment would not result in a fresh hearing of the matter and the high court was not impeded in pronouncing its verdict, the apex court said.
The former Tamil Nadu chief minister had approached the high court challenging her conviction and sentencing along with three others in a disproportionate assets case by a Bengaluru court on September 27, 2014.
Though the apex court bench of Justice Dipak Misra, Justice R.K. Agrawal and Justice Prafulla C. Pant said the appointment was not proper, it cleared the deck for the pronouncement of verdict by the high court which it had reserved on Jayalalithaa's plea on March 11.
"No need for fresh hearing in Jayalalithaa's appeal in DA case... procedural irregularities does not warrant a fresh hearing," the court said, reserving its order.
Bhawani Singh was appointed by Tamil Nadu's Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC).
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The court reserved the verdict on DMK leader K. Anbazhagan's plea challenging the appointment.
Permitting Anbazhagan and the Karnataka government to file their written submissions supporting their contention by Thursday, the apex court said it would pronounce the verdict on April 27.
The court also allowed Anbazhagan to file in the high court his written submission contesting Jayalalithaa's appeal.
Anbazhagan's plea was heard by the three-judge bench after there was a split verdict by the bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice R. Banumathi on April 17.
While Justice Lokur held that the appointment vitiated the hearing of the appeal before the Karnataka High Court, Justice Banumathi found no legal infirmity in continuing with Bhavani Singh as he was appointed for the case and his appointment was not revoked by the Karnataka government.
The apex court had on April 17 extended Jayalalithaa's bail till the Karnataka High Court disposed of her appeal against her conviction and sentencing.
The four others whose bail was also extended were Jayalalithaa's aides N. Sasikala, V.N. Sudhakaran, and J. Elasvarasi.
The apex court on December 18, 2014 had extended their bail by four months with a direction to the high court to hear their appeal and pronounce verdict by April 17, 2015.
The Bengaluru trial court had convicted Jayalalithaa for possessing assets disproportionate to her known sources of income and sentenced her to four jail terms and Rs.100 crore fine. The case lasted for about 18 years.
The case relates to the period from 1991 to 1996 involving Rs.66.65 crore when Jayalalithaa became chief minister for the first time.