Karnataka government to ask Tamil Nadu to reimburse Rs 5.11 crore on Jayalalithaa's trial

BENGALURU: Karnataka government today said it will ask Tamil Nadu to reimburse Rs 5.11 crore spent by it on conducting the trial of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and three others in the disproportionate assets case.

"We will claim Rs 5.11 crore plus money from Tamil Nadu government which was spent on handling the case in Bengaluru," Law Minister TB Jayachandra told reporters here.

The government will also claim expenditure incurred on matters related to the Home department, including giving security cover to the AIADMK supremo, Jayachandra said.

"The home ministry is working on calculating expenses incurred on providing security to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister," he said.

The move comes four days after Karnataka government decided to file an appeal in the Supreme Court against the acquittal of Jayalalithaa which had restored chief ministership to her last month.

The apex court had transferred the case to Bengaluru on November 18, 2003, after DMK Secretary K Anbazhagan approached it contending that a fair trial was not possible in Tamil Nadu with Jayalalithaa as the Chief Minister.

The Law department, after necessary findings and calculations, had arrived at Rs 5.11 crore to be claimed from the neighbouring state for incurring expenses on matters related to his department, Jayachandra said.

Jayalalithaa was acquitted by Karnataka High Court on May 11 in the 19-year-old case. It also exonerated AIADMK chief's close aide Sasikala Natarajan and the latter's relatives J Elavarasi and V N Sudhakaran, disowned foster son of Jayalalithaa, giving relief from the conviction of four years for all.

The Special Court had sentenced Jayalalithaa and three others to four years in jail and slapped a fine of Rs 100 crore on her and Rs 10 crore each on others.