Agencies/Bangalore
The Karnataka High Court will today hear jailed former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s appeal against conviction and an application for bail.
Jayalalithaa was jailed for four years following a lengthy corruption case.
The decision was taken following an order from the state chief justice as the earlier date of hearing which was on October 6 was declared a holiday for the Eid festival.
“The chief justice (D H Waghela) has considered our request to advance the hearing to tomorrow, as the court has holidays from October 2 up to 6 and since the revision petition was admitted by vacation bench judge Justice Rathnakala earlier in the day but adjourned it to October 6 on technical grounds,” a defence lawyer said.
Rathnakala will preside over the special bench and hear the arguments of the defence lawyers under section 389 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which provides a convicted person statutory right to appeal in an appellate court or a high court for seeking suspension of the sentence and release on bail.
Earlier, senior criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who appeared before the vacation bench on behalf of 66-year-old Jayalalithaa, sought interim relief to her, as the sentence was less than 10 years and hence she was entitled to get immediate bail.
A special court on Saturday convicted Jayalalithaa in the Rs660mn disproportionate assets case and sentenced her to four years in jail and fined her Rs1bn.
Meanwhile, special public prosecutor G Bhavani Singh confirmed being appointed by the Tamil Nadu government to represent its department of vigilance and anti-corruption in the case as its prosecution counsel.
“I have received intimation from the Tamil Nadu government to be counsel for DVAC in the case. I will appear before the special bench and respond if am asked to by the judge through a notice on the revision petition,” Singh said.
As the case was transferred to Bangalore from Madras High Court in 2003 on the directive of the Supreme Court, Singh said the Karnataka government too has to appoint him as its prosecutor as the special court and the high court fall under the state’s jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, the Tamil film industry launched an eight-hour fast yesterday to rally support for Jayalalithaa.
Some 3,000 directors, actors, producers and others were taking part in the hunger strike for the ex-film star turned politician, while the industry itself shut down for the day throughout Tamil Nadu.
“We decided not to have any film shootings, editing, dubbing or movie screenings across Tamil Nadu from 9am to 5pm today,” said Diamond Babu, a public relations officer in the film industry.
“This is a peaceful hunger strike without any protest to show our sympathy, love and affection to (former) chief minister,” Babu said.
Known as “Amma” (Mother) to her supporters, Jayalalithaa was forced to step down as chief minister upon her conviction.
Wailing women and other fans have already taken to the streets of the state capital Chennai to protest at her conviction.
Yesterday members of the film industry gathered inside a tent erected outside a government guest house in Chennai for the short-lived fast.
“We still consider her as chief minister... the punishment we feel is harsh, it is vindictive,” leading actor R Sarathkumar told the NDTV network.
Jayalalithaa’s All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party emerged as the third biggest force in the parliament after elections in May.
The powerful regional leader won over voters after handing out freebies including electric blenders, goats and small amounts of gold.
She was charged in 1997, when police seized assets including 28kg of gold, 750 pairs of shoes and more than 10,000 saris in a raid on her home in Chennai.
Prosecutors said her assets, which reportedly included two 1,000-acre estates, were vastly disproportionate to her earnings during her first term as chief minister.