Plea moved in SC for shifting Jayalalithaa to Chennai jail

NEW DELHI: A petition has been moved in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to shift former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to Central Prison, Chennai, from a Bangalore jail where she has been lodged after conviction in a graft case.

The petition, filed by a journalist, submitted the transfer of a prisoner from one prison to another is permissible under law and allowing the plea to transfer the AIADMK chief from Parappana Agrahara in Bangalore to Central Prison, Chennai, would help maintain public order.

The petition said the transfer of the trial from Tamil Nadu to Karnataka had a specific purpose to see to it that the trial is conducted in a fair and transparent way and after the judgement that purpose no longer survives.

The scribe has sought shifting the former chief minister to Chennai jail by citing several incidents of bandhs and strike and loss of lives and property after the verdict.

Further, the petition raised the sensitive issue of Cauvery river water-sharing dispute between the two states for transfering her to Chennai jail.

"Therefore, in the interest of the public and in the interest of peace, the petitioner herein prays for shifting of Selvi Jayalalithaa from Central Prison Parappana Agrahara to the Central Prison Chennai," the petition said.

The issue is likely to be raised tomorrow when the apex court hears the bail plea of Jayalalithaa.

A bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu had on October 13 posted the case for hearing on October 17 after senior advocate Fali S Nariman pleaded with the court to "accommodate" the case in this week itself.