The Karnataka Government’s abrupt withdrawal of special public prosecutor in the DA case against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has taken a crucial turn with the Supreme Court on Friday directing the Karnataka High Court to produce original records of his appointment made early this year in consultation with the HC Chief Justice.
With Jayalalithaa crying foul over the decision to be politically motivated, her counsel Senior Advocate Shekhar Naphade explained to the apex court that the move was done with the aim to delay trial since the trial judge is due to retire by September end and a new prosecutor in the case would take months to have a grip on the matter.
Naphade urged the Court to direct production of records with regard to withdrawal of SPP Bhavani Singh. In response, Attorney General GE Vahanvati, who appeared for Karnataka, levelled suspicion on Singh’s appointment by the then Acting Chief Justice of Karnataka HC. While transferring the trial against Jayalalithaa from Tamil Nadu to Bangalore eight years ago, the Court had said that any prosecutor appointed would be with prior approval of Chief Justice of Karnataka HC. The matter will come up on Monday.