The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Ms Jayalallithaa, on Wednesday resumed her deposition before a special court here in the disproportionate assets case, appearing before it for the fourth time since last month.

She appeared before Special Judge, Mr B.M. Mallikarjunaiah, at the makeshift court hall at the Parapana Agrahara Central Jail on the city outskirts to reply to the remaining 192 questions out of the 1,339 framed by the judge in the 15-year-old case.

The Chief Minister, who returned to Chennai last evening after the deposition, arrived here by a special aircraft this morning.

During the inconclusive deposition yesterday, Ms Jayalalithaa had answered questions mainly about the extravagant wedding of her estranged foster son Mr V.N. Sudhakaran in 1996 that landed her in a major controversy and about transactions by firms in which she was a ‘dormant partner’.

In the closed-door hearing held amid tight security, Ms Jayalalithaa had faced 580 questions taking the total queries answered so far to 1,147.

She deposed in the court yesterday for the third time after the Supreme Court rejected her plea for exemption from personal appearance and seeking permission to submit written answers. The apex court had given two days time for the special court here to complete the questioning.

The AIADMK supremo had appeared before the court on October 20 and 21 when she replied to about 571 questions.

Senior counsel representing Ms Jayalalithaa, Mr B. Kumar, had yesterday said the questioning was incomplete and expressed hope that the process would be completed today.

Ms Jayalalithaa has been charged with accumulation of wealth worth Rs 66 crore disproportionate to her known sources of income when she was the chief minister between 1991-96.

The trial was transferred from a Chennai court to Bangalore in 2003 by the Supreme Court on a petition by the DMK General Secretary, Mr K. Anbazhagan.

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