Go to Court again, Supreme Court tells J Jayalalithaa

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has asked AIADMK chief and Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa to reappear in a Bangalore trial court in the Disproportionate Assets case against her. However, the Supreme Court asked the trial court to fix a new date for recording of her statement.

“It will tantamount to granting you (petitioner Jayalalithaa) privilege if we exempt you from appearance,” said a bench comprising Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Deepak Misra, rejecting her plea on Friday. “We cannot set a wrong precedent.” Senior Counsel Mukul Rohatgi on behalf of Jayalalithaa said her personal appearance was not required as she can file her statement in writing before the case. The trial court had framed 1,339 questions in the DA case for Jayalalithaa .

She had replied to 567 questions duirng her appearances before the court on October 20 and 21. Jayalalithaa in her petition had said she had appeared before the trial court on October 20 and 21 to record her statement in the DA case, as ordered by the Supreme Court and so she cannot be summoned again by the trial court. The trial court had directed Jayalalithaa to reappear before it on next Tuesday, saying her questioning had not been concluded.

In the course of her examination at the trial court, Jayalalithaa had said that jewellery and other articles seized from her were over valued and prayed for revaluation . She alleged Tamil Nadu's Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption was responsible for this and that she did not own all sarees claimed to have been confiscated. DVAC has given “totally inflated figure” on the value of sarees, she had told the special court during recording of evidence. Jayalalithaa disputed that huge assets were acquired by various companies, in which she was only a ‘silent partner’ and pleaded ignorance about them.