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AIADMK
supremo Jayalalitha comes out of a special court in
Chennai on Thursday.
— PTI photo
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Chennai, December 27
It was celebration time once again for the AIADMK leader, Ms J. Jayalalitha, as she successfully crossed yet another court hurdle today with a special court acquitting her and 10 others in the Rs 6.5 crore coal import case.
The legal victory cleared the way for contesting the Andipatti seat for the State Assembly in the February 21 byelection and boosted her chances of returning to the Fort St.
Geoerge as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Mr O. Paneerselvam, the stop-gap successor she had nominated on September 21 is just waiting to be relieved by “Amma”.
A triumphant Ms Jayalalitha, who personally appeared in the court of special judge S.S.P. Darwesh this morning, later told reporters that she had once again proved that all the cases filed by the former Karunanidhi government were false and foisted on her. “I would like to remind you that I had been acquitted by the trial court once before, but the then Karunanidhi government chose to go in appeal to the Supreme Court and a new trial was ordered. Now, I have been acquitted and this goes to prove what I have been saying all along, that I was innocent of any wrongdoing.”
Mr Karunanidhi took the news of Ms Jayalalitha’s acquittal stoically, saying he respected law and justice. He declined to make any further comments, but asked if an appeal would be filed against the verdict, he said: “I do not intend to appeal.” Mr Karunanidhi indicated that the DMK would put up a candidate for the Andipatti byelection, adding that a decision would be taken after consulting the party’s alliance partners.
Special judge Darwesh, acquitting Ms Jayalalitha and her co-accused that included former AIADMK minister S. Kannappan, and four senior IAS officers, said the charges that they had gained pecuniary advantage through illegal or corrupt means had not been proved beyond reasonable doubt. The case against them was that the AIADMK government had imported inferior quality coal for use in thermal power projects of the State Electricity Board, causing the state a loss of Rs 6.5 crore during 1992-93. In June 1999, special judge V. Radhakrishnan had discharged Ms Jayalalitha from the case and it was upheld by the Madras High Court. But on a special leave appeal by the DMK government, the Supreme Court ordered the retrial.
