Karnataka will appeal against Jaya's acquittal 'immediately'

BENGALURU: Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa is to face another legal battle, with the Karnataka government deciding on Monday to appeal in the Supreme Court against her acquittal in a disproportionate assets case.

Brushing aside the Congress’ political requirement to retain Jayalalithaa's goodwill and clout in the Rajya Sabha, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah pushed the decision to appeal gainst the acquittal through the state cabinet meeting on Monday. He endorsed the view given by the state’s advocate general Ravivarma Kumar, the special public prosecutor B V Acharya and legal advisor Brijesh Kalappa.

Law minister T B Jayachandra said after the two-hour meeting: “The CM has asked me to go ahead with the appeal immediately, before the vacation bench. Acharya will continue to be the special public prosecutor and will be assisted by Sandeep Chowta.”

The party High Command reportedly declined to intervene in the matter, but Siddaramaiah had been advised by several cabinet ministers and MLAs from the Bengaluru city to defer this decision till the polls to the city’s civic body are completed in the last week of June. Bengaluru has a large population of Tamils and it is felt that any decision -- for or against-- would have political impact on the Congress’ prospects.

Some sections of the Congress party also told the CM that this was not Karnataka’s problem and the state should just “leave things as there are.” But Siddaramaiah was reportedly adamant that the case should be fought only on legal merits and pushed his decision through the cabinet.

Justice C R Kumaraswamy of the Karnataka High Court acquitted Jayalalithaa and three of her associates in the case on May 11. The original case against her was filed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy and was carried forward by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s K Anbazhagan.

The case was transferred from Madras High Court to Karnataka after Anbazhagan filed a petition seeking such a shift. As per the apex court’s order, Karnataka is the sole prosecuting authority on the Jayalalithaa case, though both DMK and Swamy have announced that they will also file appeals in the Supreme Court against her acquittal.