 "Karnataka moves SC against Jaya's acquittal in DA case")
It was a move all prominent Tamil Nadu Opposition parties welcomed. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), making evident which side its sympathies and political compulsions lay, slammed the Congress for indulging in vendetta politics.
The AIADMK boasts of 11 seats in the Rajya Sabha where the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is in a minority. The BJP also said the Congress government had moved the apex court at the behest of its Tamil Nadu allies.
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The appeal against the May 11 verdict also sought setting aside of the acquittal of Jayalalithaa’s close aide Sasikala and two of her relatives, VN Sudhakaran and Elavarasi, on the grounds that Karnataka’s prosecuting agency was not made a party by them before the high court.
The petition, filed through advocate Joseph Aristotle, claimed that the high court erred in computing the disproportionate assets of the AIADMK leader.
“The judge committed a grave mistake in totalling the 10 items of loan by arriving at a figure of Rs 24.17 crore when, actually on proper totalling, the same ought to be Rs 10.67 crore, resulting in erroneous decision that disproportionate assets is only to the extent of 8.12 per cent of the income when actually it works out to 76.7 per cent, the disproportionate assets being Rs 16.32 crore and the income as found being Rs 21.26 crore,” the plea said.
The state government in the petition asked as to whether the high court had “erred in law” by according the benefit of doubt to Jayalalithaa in pursuance of a Supreme Court judgement holding that an accused can be acquitted if his or her disproportionate assets was to the extent of 10 per cent.
It also claimed that the high court has erred in law in overruling 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.
The plea also referred to a recent Supreme Court judgement holding that the Tamil Nadu government had no right to appoint advocate Bhawani Singh as special public prosecutor to appear in the Karnataka High Court.
The state government had sought a stay on the high court verdict saying that Jayalalithaa “was holding the position of chief minister of the state at the time of the commission of the offences. The charges are grave. The order of acquittal has resulted in gross miscarriage of justice”.
The Karnataka High Court had on May 11 acquitted the AIADMK leader in the case, saying that her conviction by the special court suffered from infirmity and was not sustainable in law.
The 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.
Jayalalithaa, her close aide Sasikala and two of her relatives, were on September 27 last year sentenced to four years in jail for accumulating wealth disproportionate to known sources of income in an 18-year-old corruption case.
The special court, which had held Jayalalithaa and three others guilty of corruption, had also slapped a fine of Rs 100 crore on the AIADMK chief and Rs 10 crore fine on each of the three other convicts.
On October 17, 2014, the apex court had granted conditional bail to Jayalalithaa.
The apex court on April 17 had extended the bail of Jayalalithaa, which was to expire on April 18, till the disposal of her appeal in the Karnataka High Court.
A Bench of Chief Justice HL Dattu had also granted the high court time till May 12 to decide the AIADMK chief’s appeal, which will be subject to a decision by a three-judge Bench of the apex court.
Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu welcomed the move. “This was not just the request of DMK but that of all and it (appeal) has been done based on that,” Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) treasurer MK Stalin said. Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder S Ramadoss, who had even written to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on this matter, said that Jayalalithaa had “lost the right to continue in the Chief Minister’s post following Tuesday’s appeal”.
Communist Party of India (CPI) National Secretary D Raja said: “The (HC) judgement had raised several questions about the credibility of the judgement and it was expected of the Karnataka government to go for the appeal.” Congress’ Tamil Nadu state unit president EVKS Elangovan also welcomed the filing of the appeal.