Karnataka in dilemma over Jayalalithaa's case appeal

BENGALURU: BV Acharya, the special prosecutor in the disproportionate assets case against J Jayalalithaa and the legal advisor to the Karnataka government, Brijesh Kalappa, have believed to have advised the Siddaramaiah government to go ahead with an appeal against the Karnataka high court's acquittal of the former Tamil Nadu chief minister.

But the Karnataka law minister and the chief minister are dragging their feet, weighing the pros and cons, as they are wary of an appeal triggering Tamil-Kannadiga animosities. The state Congress leaders have also not received a clear signal from the high command whether to go ahead or not.

They are merely going by a hunch that the party high command may not intervene as vice-president Ra-hul Gandhi had earlier torn up the ordinance to protect convicted politicians.

So, the state government, which has time till August, is proceeding with extreme caution because it could be painted ‘anti-Tamil’ if the case against Jayalalithaa is pursued vigorously, particularly in the context of the dispute over sharing of the Cauvery waters that flares up every summer.

The Congress government is also hampered by the fact that there is a huge Tamil population in Bengaluru city, which is set to go to civic polls in the last week of May.

CM Siddaramaiah told ET that no political considerations would overshadow the legal points in the case. But, two days after the special public prosecutor, B V Acharya, submitted his report to the state government on Friday, suggesting that there are sufficient grounds for appeal, the political class and the state’s advocate general are still “going through the judgement and the report” to make a decision.