DMK govt tried to implicate Jayalalithaa, counsel to HC

Bengaluru, Jan 9: Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's counsel today contended before the High Court that appointments and authorisations given to officials by previous DMK government were invalid and politically motivated to implicate her in the disproportionate assets case.

The DMK government had violated norms under sections 17 and 18 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, AIADMK supremo's counsel B Kumar told Justice C R Kumaraswamy, who is hearing appeals filed by her and three others, challenging their conviction in a disproportionate assets case.

The special bench, set up at the direction of the Supreme Court on December 18 to decide Jayalalithaa's plea in three months, is holding day-to-day hearing.

Kumar alleged that the then DMK government gave authorisation to many officials without giving proper reasons for doing so. Citing former Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal's case, he noted that the Supreme Court had observed that authorisations given to officials without proper reasons amount to invalidation.

He also alleged that "N Nallamma Naidu was reappointed as the investigating officer in 2006 when DMK returned to power, raising suspicion that the then government had political intentions to implicate Jayalalithaa in the case." Naidu was discontinued as the investigating officer by the previous Jayalalithaa government, prior to 2006 DMK regime, Kumar submitted.

Kumar also submitted that the then DMK government had taken "extraordinary" interest in appointing and deploying as many as 150 police personnel to investigate the case in an unprecedented move.

Justice Kumaraswamy posted the matter for further hearing on January 12. A Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu, had ordered that the hearing in the High Court on the appeal, filed by Jayalalithaa challenging her conviction and sentence in the case, be conducted on a day-to-day basis.

On October 17 last, the apex court had granted conditional bail to Jayalalithaa, who was sent to jail by a trial court on September 27, saying that hearing on her appeal against conviction in the High Court should be completed in three months from December 18.

The trial court had held Jayalalithaa and three others guilty of corruption and awarded four years jail term and also slapped a fine of Rs 100 crore on her.

PTI