The swearing-in of J Jayalalithaa, the AIADMK general secretary as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu will not happen before next Tuesday, according to party insiders. “The current week is not ideal for any auspicious things. Amma is very particular that the swearing-in ceremony should be held on the most auspicious day, even if it is weeks away,” a source close to the AIADMK chief told The Pioneer.
Wednesday saw Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and members of his Council of Ministers trooping into Veda Nilayam, Jayalalityhaa’s residence at the up-market Poes Garden area in Chennai.
Though details of the meeting were not available officially, it is widely believed that Jayalalithaa had discussed the implications of the Karnataka High Court verdict which acquitted her of all charges. This is the first time Jayalalithaa met anybody other than her household members after Monday’s court verdict.
The day also saw the controversy generated by the charges that the verdict delivered by Justice CR Kumaraswamy had arithmetic errors with one of the Opposition parties sending an envoy to meet the Karnataka Chief Minister with a plea to the Karnataka Government to approach the Supreme Court challenging the High Court verdict at the earliest.
Except the BJP and the GK Vasan-led TMC, all major political parties attacked and challenged the High Court order which let off Jayalalithaa from the 18-year old DA case.
The controversy arose following Justice Kumaraswamy pointing out in his verdict that whatever Jayalalithaa had amassed as assets were permissible under the law.
A group of former bureaucrats, including Dr S Kalyanaraman of the Indian Railway Accounts Service, who studied the verdict delivered by Justice Kumaraswamy, said there were no mistakes in it other than a few typographic errors which has not affected the content.
“The controversy is related to one ‘total’ of loans taken by the accused (Page 852 of the judgement). This controversy is much ado about nothing. This reference is part of a Section titled ‘loans as Income’ which runs from Pages 850 to 852. In this Section, the judgement clearly argues that loans borrowed by the accused from all sources should be taken into consideration, including loans from private parties as evidenced by Prosecution witnesses.
The total of such loans is Rs24 crore 17 lakh. The total amount includes 10 loans taken from nationalised banks which are listed on Page 852. So, on this page, the judgement says: ‘I have considered the loan only borrowed from the Nationalised Banks.’ (as an example),” Dr Kalyanaraman explained to The Pioneer.
He also said that the issue was not about arithmetic but the considered judgement that loan should be treated as a liability and not as an asset which is the standard practice in accounting. “The Prevention of Corruption Act talks of only ‘disproportionate assets’. So, the judgement treating loans as income and not as assets is reasonable and will be appreciated by a man or woman of ordinary prudence, a phrase often used to refer to proper interpretations of the laws,” said Dr Kalyanaraman, who also served as India’s a senior executive in Asian Development Bank.