New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked counsel for the Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa to submit all the records relating to the evidence in the assets case in which final hearing commenced on February 23.
A Bench of Justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Amitav Roy, granted time till March 10 and adjourned the hearing till then. Earlier counsel submitted that 166 volumes of the case records were submitted to the Karnataka high court and the same can be furnished to the apex court also. The Bench said records relating to evidence on factual aspects can be given in separate volumes.
Senior counsel Dushyant Dave appearing for Karnataka, continuing his arguments, was explaining as to how the high court in its verdict gone on a tangent to the findings of the trial court which convicted the four accused, including Ms. Sasikala, Sudhagaran and Ms. Ilavarasi. The bench intervened to observe that two views are possible, one conviction and another acquittal on the same set of evidence.
“We want to examine the evidence and juxtapose it with trial court and HC findings”. In the last two days, Mr Dave argued that Ms Jayalalithaa could not satisfactorily explain the legal sources of income, which were disproportionate to her known sources of income, and she was rightly convicted for four years imprisonment by John Michael D’ Cunha, a trial judge in Bangalore. Counsel argued that under the provisions of 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 crores was the disproportionate assets after accounting Rs.13 crores towards expenses, but the high court reversed the findings. He sought setting aside of the acquittal and restoration of the conviction. Arguments will continue on March 10.
