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. Jayalalithaa, who was denied bail by Karnataka High Court following her conviction and four-year sentence in a disproportionate asset case, had moved the Supreme Court for bail on October 9.
The AIADMK chief, who has been behind the bars since September 27, has challenged the High Court order, which had refused her bail. Jayalalithaa has pleaded that she is also suffering from various ailments as grounds for her immediate relief.
The former Chief Minister also cited grounds of being a senior citizen and a woman for getting out of jail. The 66-year-old politician was denied bail by the High Court on October 7 despite the Special Public Prosecutor not objecting to grant of conditional bail to her.
The High Court had also rejected the bail pleas by Jayalalithaa's close aide Sasikala and her relatives V N Sudhakaran, disowned foster-son of the former Chief Minister, and Ilavarasi, who have also been sent to four years in jail in the 18-year-old case.
The Special Court had held Jayalalithaa and three others guilty of corruption. The court had also slapped a fine of Rs 100 crore on the AIADMK chief and Rs 10 crore fine on each of the three other convicts.
