DMK to move SC against Jaya''s acquittal in DA case

Chennai, May 25

The DMK today said it has decided to file an appeal against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's acquittal in a wealth case by the Karnataka High Court.

"With Supreme Court having said twice that DMK has the right to participate in this case, I firmly say that the party also will file an appeal in the disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa in the Supreme Court," DMK president M Karunanidhi said in a statement here.

DMK has been pressing the Karnataka Government to file an appeal against the May 11 verdict of the high court acquitting Jayalalithaa and three others in the disproportionate wealth case, which paved the way for her return as chief minister.

Karunanidhi's statement today came after he chaired a meeting of DMK's District Secretaries where the matter was discussed. District Secretaries play a significant role in the the DMK's organisational set-up.

Karunanidhi said the Special Public Prosecutor in the case, B V Acharya, and Karnataka Advocate General Ravi Varma Kumar had recommended to that government to file an appeal against Jayalalithaa's acquittal.

"We firmly believe that Karnataka government will accept their recommendations and file the appeal," he said.

The original complainant in the case, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, had also said he would move the apex court against Jayalalithaa's acquittal, Karunanidhi pointed out.

DMK's decision to take on its arch-rival comes two days after Jayalalithaa was sworn-in as Chief Minister for a fifth time, following her acquittal in the Rs 66.66 crore disproportionate assets case by the high court.

The court had allowed her appeal challenging the September 27, 2014 order of the trial court in Bengaluru convicting her and sentencing her to four years imprisonment imposing a fine of Rs 100 crore.

It was on DMK's prayer in the Supreme Court that the case was transferred to Bengaluru in 2003. Since then, DMK General Secretary K Anbazhagan had impleaded himself in the case. In the latest instance, Anbazhagan had successfully challenged before the apex court the appointment of G Bhavani Singh as SPP in the case by the Tamil Nadu Government.

 The Supreme Court had on April 27 held as bad in law the appointment of Singh as SPP, following which Karnataka government appointed Acharya in his place.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram said in New Delhi today that the Karnataka Cabinet will meet tomorrow to take a decision on filing an appeal against the acquittal of Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case.

“The issue is in the domain of the Karnataka government.

“The Karnataka Cabinet is meeting today or tomorrow to take a decision,” Chidambaram said, refusing to comment further on the matter.

The former Union Minister, who hails from Tamil Nadu and is a senior Supreme Court advocate, was asked at the AICC briefing about his view in the matter.

The legal cell of the ruling Congress in Karnataka earlier in the day advised the state government not to file an appeal against the acquittal of Jayalalithaa.

The role of Karnataka was administrative and not judicial and the state was not an aggrieved party in respect of the High Court judgement acquitting Jayalalithaa and three others of all charges, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Legal and Human Rights Department said.

The Karnataka High Court gave a clean chit to Jayalalithaa and three others on May 11, clearing them of “all charges” in the 19-year-old case, helping her to return as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

Advocate General Ravivarma Kumar and Special Public Prosecutor in the case B V Acharya have made public their advice to the state government, as the sole prosecutor, to file an appeal in the apex court. — PTI