AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa to stay in jail, Karnataka HC adjourns bail plea to October 7

TNN

Bangalore, Oct 01, 2014: In a setback to Jayalaltihaa, a vacation bench of the Karnataka high court on Wednesday adjourned the AIADMK supremo’s bail plea to October 7. The case will now be heard by a regular bench.

 

Lawyers supporting Jayalalithaa staged a dharna outside the Karnataka high court following its decision to defer the hearing of the bail petition to Tuesday.

 

The vacation bench of the Karnataka high court yesterday agreed to hear the bail petitions of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa and three others found guilty in the disproportionate assets case.

 

When the matter came up before the vacation bench judge Justice Rathnakala, Jayalalithaa’s counsel Ram Jethmalani pleaded for suspending the sentence pending appeal under Section 389 of the Criminal Procedure Code and for her release on bail.

 

Section 389 states that pending any appeal by a convicted person, the appellate court may order that the execution of the sentence or order appealed against be suspended. Also, if the person is in confinement, that he or she be released on bail, or on own bond.

 

 

During the brief hearing, special public prosecutor Bhavani Singh filed the objections to Jayalalithaa’s pleas and also a memo about his appointment as the SPP in the case.

 

Singh, who was SPP in the special court in the disproportionate assets case, had told the court yesterday that he had not yet received any official notification appointing him as the SPP for the criminal appeal filed in the high court.

 

As Singh sought more time, the judge had first posted the matter for hearing on October 6, which was later rescheduled for today following pleas by Jayalalithaa’s counsels.

 

The high court is on Dasara holidays from September 29 to October 6. October 7 is also a government holiday on account of Eid.

 

In her petitions seeking immediate bail and challenging her sentence, Jayalalithaa has maintained that the charges of amassing wealth against her were false and that she had acquired property through legal means.

 

 

Jayalalitha has also contended that the trial court has overlooked several judgements and has not considered the binding nature of various income tax orders and decisions of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, which had accepted the income and the level of expenditure pleaded by her.

Jayalalithaa, her close aide Sasikala Natarajan and relatives V N Sudhakaran and J Elavarasi are lodged in the Parappana Agrahara central prison since September 27 after being convicted to four years in jail in the disproportionate assets case under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Besides serving time in jail, they will have to pay hefty fines.