Jayalalithaa DA case: For B V Acharya petitions challenging his appointment not new

New Delhi, Apr 26: Karnataka is not too concerned with the two petitions in the Supreme Court that have challenged the appointment of the special public prosecutor and also questioned its locus standi in filing the appeal in the J Jayalalithaa disproportionate assets case.

While the hearing on the appeals were coming to a close a petition was filed yesterday by an advocate from Madurai challenging the appointment of B V Acharya as the Special Public Prosecutor in the case.

The petition has been adjourned by the Supreme Court by two weeks. It is most likely to come up with a petition that was filed at the start of the appeal proceedings challenging the locus standi of Karnataka in filing the case in the first place.

Well settled points

Karnataka has not given much thought to both these appeals and these are all well settled points. Once it comes up we will put forth our point of view before the Bench. However where the appointment of Acharya is concerned there is not a single anomaly in the same.

With regard to the locus standi, it has been said time and again both by Karnataka as well as the courts that only the prosecuting state has the right to file an appeal.

In this case, Karnataka is the prosecuting state. Hence there is not much to argue on that. When it comes up for hearing, we will putforth out arguments.

When a senior official in Karnataka was asked if these petitions were aimed at delaying the proceedings, he said it could be.

Acharya had trouble in the past as well

For Acharya, the troubles in the Jayalalithaa case are not new. He had been appointed as the Advocate General of Karnataka and at the same time was the special public prosecutor in this case.

Some petitions had been filed stating that he is holding two posts and this was illegal. However many were withdrawn after he quit the post.

However Acharya contended that there is no bar in holding the two posts. He however chose to resign from the post of Advocate General citing pressure from the then BJP government in the state.

At that the AIADMK was termed as a natural ally by senior BJP leader L K Advani and many had felt that this could have been the reason for the pressure on him to resign.

Six months after quitting as the AG, he stepped down as the Special Public Prosecutor in the case. He stepped down at a time when the case before the trial court was at a crucial stage.

When he had quit the post he had cited untold hardship and embarrassment at the hands of interested parties. Several petitions had been filed before the high court and the governor of Karnataka seeking his removal as SPP.

These petitions had come up after interested parties had failed to achieve the objective by inducements and threats he had said.

However after Jayalalithaa was convicted by the trial court and she went up in appeal to the Karnataka there was another complication. Bhavani Singh who was appointed SPP after Acharya resigned had to step down after a petition had challenged his appointment.

Acharya was brought back as the SPP and in the last leg of the hearing on the appeal in the Karnataka High Court he had filed written submissions.

OneIndia News