Jayalalithaa case- DMK files appeal against acquittal in Supreme Court

Bengaluru, July 6: The DMK has filed an appeal before the Supreme Court challenging the acquittal of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case. The DMK has challenged the order of acquittal passed by the Karnataka High Court. The petition filed by the DMK will be heard along with the appeal that was filed a week back by the Karnataka government.

The DMK in its appeal has sought the reversal of the High Court order in which Jayalalithaa and her aides were held not guilty. The appeal by the DMK also seeks to restore the order of the trial court which had sentenced Jayalalithaa, Ilavarasi, Sasikala Natrajan and Sudhakaran to four years imprisonment.

The DMK's appeal seeks to restore the order of the trial court which had found Jayalalithaa and others guilty. The trial court had sentenced Jayalalithaa to four years imprisonment and also slapped a Rs 100 crore fine on her.

The DMK in its appeal states that the High Court while reversing the order of the trial court had not taken into account various factors. It states in its appeal that the High Court had committed some grave errors which gave Jayalalithaa and others the benefit of an acquittal.

The grounds of the appeal are very much similar to what the Karnataka High Court had mentioned. The arithmetic errors as a result of which the quantum of disproportionate assets dropped is the main contention of the appeal. The DMK appeal says that in the interest of justice, the order of the High Court must be set aside and the trial court verdict be restored.

Appeal to be clubbed:

The appeals filed by both the Karnataka government and the DMK will be clubbed and heard together. Although there is no date that has been given as yet, the Supreme Court is likely to take up this matter next week. Sources say that a three judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice of India, H L Dattu are likely to hear the matter. Currently the scrutiny of the appeals is on in the Supreme Court.

The DMK had played a crucial role in this case. In fact it was the DMK which assisted the prosecution all through the case. However the DMK had waited for the Karnataka government to file the appeal before it did the same. Legal experts say that an appeal is always stronger when it is filed by the prosecuting agency.

OneIndia News