The Supreme Court on Monday directed the resumption of day-to-day trial against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in an 18-year-old Disproportionate Assets case.
The bench of Justices BS Chauhan and J Chelameswar lifted the three-week stay on trial, which they ordered on 7th April, following the illness of the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) G Bhawani Singh, specially engaged by the Court in the case.
The Rs66.65 crore Disproportionate Assets case against AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa and three others, including her associate Sasikala, is being monitored by the apex court. She is accused of amassing Rs66.65 crore between 1991 and 1996 during her tenure as the Chief Minister in the State. The case was transferred by the apex court from Chennai to Bangalore in 2003 for a free and fair trial. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) lN Rao appearing for SPP informed court, that following the medical treatment, Singh had fully recovered from illness. The SPP had approached the apex court against the order of the Karnataka High Court which had refused to allow his plea and dismissed his petition imposing a penalty of Rs60,000 a day for seeking repeated adjournments in the trial and causing delay in the judicial process. The trial court had on March 14 fixed the amount based on the fees the State Government was paying the prosecutor to conduct the trial.