Assets case: They failed to prove legal means of income

New Delhi: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa could not satisfactorily explain the legal sources of income disproportionate to her known sources of income and she was rightly sentenced to four years imprisonment by the trial judge in Bengaluru, argued senior counsel Dushyant Dave, appearing for Karnataka. Continuing his submissions before a Bench of Justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Amitav Roy, counsel argued that under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the burden of proving the legal means of income was on the accused but they could not do so.

He said the trial court had rendered a finding on each of the counts of assets and expenses and came to the conclusion that about Rs 53 crore was the assets case after accounting Rs 13 crore towards expenses.

He alleged that the three other accused staying in Poes garden residence were taking bags of currency notes and depositing them in banks not properly accounted for. Whether the amount was received from party cadres or whether a loan was received from bank, Jayalalithaa, being a public servant ought to have informed authorities about the receipt of such income.

They chose not to report to authorities and whatever defence they had presented in the court was only an after thought.