The Karnataka government on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court against the acquittal of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister acquittal in the disproportionate assets case.
This comes almost a month after the Karnataka High Court acquitted the AIADMK chief in the DA case, following which the special prosecutor in the case alleged grave mathematical error in the judgement.
Citing mathematical errors in calculating the loss in the High Court judgement delivered by Justice C R Kumaraswamy, Karnataka has filed this appeal. After her acquittal by the Karnataka High court, Jayalalithaa has already returned as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu and is even contesting in an Assembly by-poll from Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar seat in Chennai, voting for which voting will take place after five days. The appeal has come as a huge setback for Jayalalithaa.
The main opposition DMK has welcomed Karnataka government’s decision to challenge the acquittal. It said "Jayalalitha has already filed her nomination and started her campaign. It is for the people to see. It is the people who should respond"
Karnataka Law Minister T B Jayachandra had earlier in June said that the state would file an appeal in the Supreme Court. The state had appointed its ace prosecutor and former Advocate General BV Acharya as a special counsel and his aide Sandesh Chowta as Acharya's second in-command. Senior Supreme Court advocate Joseph Aristotle was appointed as the advocate-on-record.
Grounds for Appeal
Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) BV Acharya had said that there were glaring errors in the Karnataka High Court judgment in calculation of loans. Justice CR Kumaraswamy had said that Jayalalithaa had received loans worth Rs 24 crore. But the actual figures came up to only Rs 10 crore, so there is a mistake of about Rs 14 crore, said Acharya.
According to Acharya, Jayalalithaa's total disproportionate assets is Rs 16.34 crore and not Rs 2.82 crore as the High Court judge said. The assets are 76 per cent disproportionate and not just 8.12 per cent as per HC, Acharya said.
BV Acharya, who actually built a very strong case against Jayalalithaa during his previous tenure as the Special Public Prosecutor, said, "In page 852, judge says prosecution has not taken into account the income part of accused by obtaining loans from nationalised banks. Have given particulars of loans from different banks from which loans were rejected. The judge says total loans received are Rs 24 crore. There is some mistake in adding up. Actual figure comes to only Rs 10 crore. Thus there is a mistake to the extent of about Rs 14 crore. The DA will come to Rs 16.34 crore, as against Rs 2 crore. Therefore, there is a glaring arithmetical error in terms calculation."
"Fundamental mistake is in totalling 10 items of the loan. Since this glaring mistake has come to my notice, I am considering all options available. If the Supreme Court appeal is decided, this will be an excellent point to prove that acquittal of Jaya is wrong," he added. When asked if he is asking for stay on the judgment, Acharya said, "It is a matter of deep consideration. I can't say anything positive now."
The AIADMK chief had been acquitted of all charges of corruption and unaccounted-for wealth by the Karnataka High Court in may 2015. Prior to that, she and her three aides had been convicted by a specially appointed trial court in Bengaluru and had even spent some time in jail leading to her disqualification as an MLA and a bar on her contesting elections.
Jayalalithaa and three others, including her close aide Sasikala Natarajan, were acquitted on May 11 of all charges by Justice CR Kumaraswamy of the Karnataka High Court in the 19-year old disproportionate assets case.
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