DA case: Jayalalithaa cannot distance herself from co-accused

Chennai, June 2: You have three options- "confirm the order of the High Court that acquitted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J Jayalalithaa, confirm the trial court order that convicted her or refer the matter back to the Karnataka High Court so that it could consider the matter afresh."

This was the submission Dushyanth Dave, senior counsel arguing for Karnataka made before the Supreme Court which is hearing the disproportionate assets case against J Jayalalithaa and three others.

The Bench comprising Justice P C Ghose and Amitava Roy observed that referring the matter back to the High Court would cause injustice to the accused persons. It would mean that the order of the trial court is being upheld, the Bench observed while indicating that this possibility is being ruled out.

Jayalalithaa cannot distance herself from co-accused:

During the course of the arguments, Jayalalithaa's counsel had submitted that it cannot be presumed that she was the source of the money just because the co-accused, Sasikala Natrajan, Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran lived in the same house.

When the Bench sought to know if Karnataka could prove if the money circulated among the co-accused belonged to Jayalalithaa.

B V Acharya, special public prosecutor for Karnataka said that Jayalalithaa cannot distance herself from the co-accused at this point in time. She cannot also distance herself from the assets, Acharya also contended.

Acharya explained while calculating the disproportionate assets, the expenditure, value and also income, the same has been taken into consideration jointly along with the 34 companies and firms.

The trial court and the high court have not considered the assets or disproportionate assets of each accused separately. Hence Jayalalithaa cannot now make out a case in these appeals concurrent to the findings of the high court and the trial court.

Gifts from party workers not lawful income:

Dave once again pointed out to the Bench that gifts from party workers cannot be considered to be a lawful source of income. Rs 1.5 crore had been received from party workers on her birthday.

The court must take note of this seriously and such forms of bribery and corruption will only destroy the foundation of the economy, Dave contended.

The Bench will next hear the matter on June 7. For Karnataka Siddharth Luthra would argue on the seizure of assets of the five companies - Indo-Doha Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd., Signora Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., Ramraj Agro Mills Ltd., Meadow Agro Farms, and Riverway Agro Products. Counsel for Jayalalithaa Harin Raval would also argue on the same day.

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