Illegal Assets Case: HC reserves judgement against Jayalalithaa

Earlier, the apex court had extended by four months the bail of Jayalalithaa.

The Karnataka HC on Wednesday reserved judgment in the illegal assets case against former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. The former CM had appealed against conviction, five year jail term and Rs 100 crore fine awarded in the case by a trial court on September 27, 2014.

The judgment was reserved by HC judge C R Kumaraswamy after BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy presented written arguments against Jayalalithaa on Wednesday.

Swamy in written arguments said that Jayalalitha’s wealth had grown with her position. He said that the fact that she had been fined by the IT dept for not declaring returns was evidence of wrong doing.

“She must be the most productive farmer in the whole world with her grape garden yielding Rs 1 lakh worth of fruit per acre,” Swamy submitted.

The arguments presented by Swamy the original complainant in the Rs 66 crore.

Illegal assets case against Jayalalithaa brought the arguments in the case to a close.

A trial court in Bangalore had last September found Jayalalithaa and three associates guilty of amassing illegal wealth to the tune of Rs 51 crores.

Jayalalalithaa was forced to step down as the Chief Minister following the conviction. Following an appeal against the verdict by Jayalalithaa and the others the SC had on Dec 18, 2014 directed the Karnataka HC to hear and dispose the case within three months.

A single judge of the high court continued to hear the plea on a daily basis amid questions being raised over competence of the SPP Bhavani Singh.

The high court reserved the judgment in the appeal even as the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a plea filed by DMK leader K Anbazhagan on March 18 against the appointment of Bhavani Singh as the Special Public Prosecutor by the Tamil Nadu government in the appeal by Jayalalithaa.

Source:: Indian Express