Court moves Jaya case to Bangalore

The Supreme Court of India yesterday transferred from Chennai to Bangalore the disproportionate wealth case against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha and others including her friend Sasikala and her nephew and AIADMK Member of Parliament, T.T.V. Dinakaran.

The court has ordered that hearing in the case be taken up within one-and-a-half weeks and Jayalalitha's personal appearance before the court for cross examination when necessary. The apex court has also ordered that the case be taken up on a day–to–day basis.

The DMK's K. Anbazhagan had in February gone to the Supreme Court for shifting the trial out of Tamil Nadu, as according to him, witness after witness had resiled from their statements. The court yesterday ruled that the manner in which the Chennai trial court had proceeded with the case raised doubts about the freedom and fairness of the trial. It decided to allow Anbazhagan's petition. The court, allowing the petition, said that the transfer was being ordered in the interest of the justice delivery system and the faith of the common man in it.

The Supreme Court order is a major setback to Jayalalitha. DMK Chief Karunanidhi said that Jayalalitha should take moral responsibility. He hoped that once the case was transferred justice would be done. He said that there was too much interference in Tamil Nadu today in the law and judicial system. Most of the officials and witnesses were either threatened or were working for Jayalalitha and that was why no cases had been proved against her. It was as if the judiciary in the State was under Jayalalitha.

There were two cases initially filed by Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy in 1995 accusing Jayalalitha who was then chief minister, of having amassed wealth disproportionate to her known sources of income. After Jayalalitha was defeated in the next Assembly elections, when the DMK and Karunanidhi came to power, they took over the cases and Jayalalitha was arrested on the basis of these cases and spent some time in jail. Jayalalitha continued with these two cases when she came back to power.

This trial was the basis of Anbazhagan's petition to the Supreme Court, filed after the Madras High Court exonerated Jayalalitha in the TANSI case in which a special court had held her guilty and given her a three-year jail term.