SC defers hearing plea for removal of PP in Jaya's DA case

Supreme Court today deferred to March 9 the hearing on the plea by DMK leader K Anbazhagan seeking stay on proceedings before the Karnataka High Court on an appeal filed by former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa against her conviction in a assets case.

"We have not gone through the petition," a bench comprising justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and R K Agarwal said while adjourning the matter.

"We are not making any comment," the bench said. The bench deferred the hearing as the matter was allocated to it this morning only.

Earlier, the matter was listed before a bench comprising justices M B lokur and U U lalit.

However, in the morning, it was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India H l Dattu and was informed that it had to be shifted to another bench as one of the judges had earlier appeared for Jayalalithaa.

In his plea, DMK General Secretary Anbazhagan had sought removal of public prosecutor in the case alleging that he has not been impartial in the matter.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Dattu had allowed the urgent mentioning of the plea by senior advocate T R Andhyarujina and had allowed the plea.

Earlier, the apex court in December, 2014 had extended by four months the bail of Jayalalithaa and asked the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court to constitute a special bench to decide her plea expeditiously within three months.

It had also asked senior advocate KTS Tulsi, appearing for Jayalalithaa, who was awarded four years jail term along with a fine of Rs 100 crore in the DA case, to provide a copy of documents in the case to BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.

Swamy had raised the issue of law and order in Tamil Nadu, saying the posters of the slain lTTE chief Prabhakaran are being pasted across the state.

On October 17, the apex court had granted conditional bail to Jayalalithaa, who was sent to jail by a trial court on September 27, saying that hearing on her appeal against conviction in High Court should be completed in five months from now.

The apex court, which had also granted bail to the AIADMK chief's close aide Sasikala and two of her relatives, had refused to dispose of the bail plea while posting the case for hearing today.

The 66-year-old politician, who had moved the Supreme Court for bail on October 9 after she was denied bail by the Karnataka High Court, had submitted that she had been sentenced to only four years jail in the case and she was also suffering from various ailments, as grounds for her immediate relief.

The Special Court had held Jayalalithaa and three others guilty of corruption. The court had also slapped a fine of Rs 100 crore on the AIADMK chief and Rs 10 crore fine on each of the three other convicts.