Wrap up Jayalalitha case in 3 months: SC

Apex court extends bail of AIADMK chief till April 18

December 18, 2014 12:11 pm | Updated November 28, 2021 07:39 am IST - New Delhi

Former TN Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. File photo.

Former TN Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. File photo.

Paving the way for a speedy hearing of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s appeal on her conviction in the disproportionate assets case, the Supreme Court asked the Karnataka High Court Chief Justice on Thursday to constitute a Special Bench to hear the case “exclusively” on a day-to-day basis and complete it in three months.

Bail extended

The apex court extended the bail of Ms. Jayalalithaa and the three other accused in the case — V.K. Sasikala, J. Ilavarasi and V.N. Sudhakaran — till April 18, 2015.

Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu requested the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court to constitute a Special Bench, “keeping in view the peculiar circumstances” of the case, to hear exclusively the four criminal appeals in the assets case on a day-to-day basis, complete the proceedings and pronounce the judgment in three months from Thursday.

The time frame was set after Mr. Tulsi said he would require at least 30 working days to complete his arguments. The three months’ time was fixed on the consideration that the High Court might require at least a month after the arguments conclude to deliver the judgment.

Extension offered

Chief Justice Dattu orally observed that in case the appeal proceedings were not completed in three months, the apex court could be duly informed and an extension of 15 days considered.

Swamy’s complaint

Appearing in the court, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, the original complainant in the criminal case, said he had not been given a copy of the appeal papers.

Chief Justice Dattu said Ms. Jayalalithaa’s side should keep its assurance made on October 17. Mr. Tulsi then promised the court that copies of the 173-volume appeal papers would be sent to Dr. Swamy within two days.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.