New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a Karnataka government petition seeking a review of its verdict abating charges against late Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa in a case of disproportionate assets against her.
The apex court on 14 February convicted Sasikala Natarajan, general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), and two others and awarded a four-year prison sentence but abated charges against Jayalalithaa in view of her death.
The apex court’s verdict by a bench comprising justices Amitava Roy and P.C. Ghose came in an appeal filed by the Karnataka government against the state’s 2015 high court ruling acquitting Jayalalithaa, Sasikala and two others.
A special court in Bengaluru had on 27 September 2014 convicted Jayalalithaa, Sasikala, V.N. Sudhakaran (Sasikala’s nephew) and J. Elavarasi (wife of late Jayaraman, Sasikala’s brother) for amassing wealth disproportionate to their income based on a complaint filed originally by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy in 1996.
The Karnataka high court on 11 May 2015 overruled the conviction, citing an error in computing the disproportionate assets and said they did not exceed the 10% of the stated income limit which merits conviction.
The Karnataka government then moved the apex court challenging the high court verdict. The apex court held daily hearings in the case for over three months before reserving verdict in the case in June 2016.
SC dismisses Karnataka plea to review abatement of appeal against Jayalalithaa in DA case.
