After keeping political observers guessing about how it would respond to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s acquittal in the disproportionate assets case, the Karnataka Government has eventually decided to press an appeal in the Supreme Court.
The decision to appeal the Karnataka High Court order was taken by the State Cabinet, said TB Jayachandra, Law Minister. Addressing reporters, he said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had directed him to immediately file an appeal and that the authorities concerned have been asked to begin the process.
“It is inevitable for us to file an appeal before the Supreme Court as Karnataka has been declared as the sole prosecuting agency by the Supreme Court with respect to the disproportionate assets’ case. We have to execute our responsibility properly by filing the appeal,” Jayachandra said.
Jayalalithaa assumed office as chief minister last month after the Karnataka High Court acquitted her. A trial court had convicted her, imposing four years’ imprisonment and a fine of ₹100 crore.
The acquittal by Justice CR Kumaraswamy of the Karnataka High Court has come under severe scrutiny following observations that the judge had got his sums wrong in concluding that Jayalalithaa’s disproportionate assets were “relatively small” and within the permissible limits set by a Supreme Court judgment.
Last week, the DMK, which had filed the case against Jayalalithaa in 1996 and got the case transferred out of Tamil Nadu, said it would file an appeal in the apex court. Subramanian Swamy, now with the BJP, who had filed the complaint against Jayalalithaa when he was heading the Janata Party, had also said he would appeal the acquittal. The acquittal paved the way for Jayalalithaa to assume office as chief minister; she and her cabinet were sworn in on May 23. Jayalalithaa will contest the by-election for a north Chennai constituency, which has been fixed for June 27, to become an MLA again.
‘No political vendetta’ The Karnataka Cabinet also decided to continue with the services of Special Public Prosecutor and senior counsel BV Acharya and named Sandesh Chowta as his assistant.
Jayachandra said the decision to file an appeal was purely based on merit and no political considerations were involved. “There is no question of any political vendetta involved here,” he said, pointing out that the Special Public Prosecutor, Attorney General and the Law Department were of the opinion that it was a fit case to appeal.