Jaya acquitted in DA case

What gone in favour for Jaya in Karnataka HC?

The Karnataka High Court said that AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa was entitled for acquittal as the disproportionate assets (DA) held by her was less than 10 per cent of her income as per the guidelines of the Apex Court for acquitting public servants based on the quantum of DA possessed by them in the corruption cases.

The Court said that Ms. Jayalalithaa possessed DA of only Rs.2,82,36,812 while declining to accept the case of the prosecution that she had DA of RS. 66.65 crore or the DA amount of Rs. 53.6 crore arrived at by the special court.

In his 919-page verdict, Justice C.R. Kumaraswamy said that "the prosecution has mixed up assets of accused, firms and companies and also added the cost of construction i.e., Rs.27,79,88,945 and marriage expenses at Rs.6,45,04,222/- and valued the assets at Rs.66,44,73,573."

"If we remove the exaggerated value of cost of construction and marriage expenses, the assets will work out at Rs.37,59,02,466. The total income of the accused, firms and companies is Rs.34,76,65,654. Lack of proportion amount is Rs.2,82,36,812/-. The percentage of disproportionate assets is 8.12%. It is relatively small," the Court found on analysing the documents.

From the Apex Court’s verdict in Krishnanand Agnihotri’s case, the High Court said that when there is disproportionate asset to the extent of 10%, the accused are entitled for acquittal. Also the High Court took note of a circular issued by the Government of Andhra Pradesh that disproportionate asset to the extent of 20% can also be considered as a permissible limit.

Based on Krishnanand Agnihotri’s case and AP government’s circular, Justice Kumaraswamy concluded that disproportionate assets of 10% to 20% has been taken as a permissible limit in DA cases while taking into consideration the inflatory measures.

"In the instant case, the disproportionate asset is less than 10% and it is within permissible limit. Therefore, accused are entitled for acquittal. When the principal accused [Ms. Jayalalithaa] has been acquitted, the other accused, who have played a lesser role are also entitled for acquittal," Justice Kumaraswamy said.

On Ms. Jayalalithaa’s income, the High Court said that the trial court has not appreciated the evidence in a proper perspective. "Though the trial court in its judgment mentioned that the accused availed loan by the Indian Bank, but it has not considered the same as income. Therefore, the trial court has erred in not considering the loans as income…"

In this case, the trial court has ignored the Income Tax proceedings as minimum evidentiary value, the High Court said.

Jaya's verdict: some important questions

Jayalalithaa and three other accused were acquitted of all charges in the disproportionate assets case. Here are some answers on the next possible scenarios post the verdict:

1. Can she become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu again? What is the procedure?

She can be elected leader of the AIADMK legislature party now and can be sworn in CM. she will have to enter the Assembly through an election within the next six months. As of now, the AIADMK can pass a party resolution agreeing to reinstate her as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Then, the current CM O.Paneerselvam has to render his resignation to the Governor of the State. After the acceptance of his resignation, Ms. Jayalalithaa can officially take the oath of office.

2. What will happen to the assets that were attached initially when she was convicted? The office, the land, the bus?

The attachment of the assets will be lifted. During the period of the case, the assets were under the court’s custody. They will be returned to the ‘original owner’ as mentioned in the documents. The court might have to wait for 60 days to check if anyone has contested against the judgment.

3. What about the Rs. 100 crores fine that was imposed on her?

With this verdict, her sentence and her fine amount has been set aside. She does not need to pay the fine amount now.

4. How come one court finds the accused guilty while the other court acquits? Why two interpretations of the same evidence?

It is possible that the High Court took note of legal points in the defence - for example, the income tax department's acceptance of IT returns prevents further enquiry into the ownership of assets. Once this question is answered in favour of the accused, the evidence does not matter.

5. It took 18yrs to give the initial verdict, while only 6 months for the appeal in high court. If for argument's sake, let's say the DMK appeals in the apex court. Will we get a verdict (which might overturn this and send her again to jail) in a short period of time, say 6 months?

Yes, it is possible that the appeal can be taken up within months, if one is filed by the Karnataka government.

6. Can anyone appeal against this judgment?

As the prosecuting State, Karnataka has the right to appeal in the Supreme Court against the verdict. Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy can also file an appeal against the verdict as he is the prime appellant. DMK can’t appeal against this judgment. Karnataka Government is in no mood to appeal the case.

7. Assuming an appeal is filed against this judgement in Supreme Court, how long it will normally take to come to the court?

That depends on the Supreme Court alone. In Jayalalithaa's case, they fixed a deadline for the High Court to finish the hearing.

8. What will the position of the Special Public Prosecutor be now?

B.V. Acharya was re-appointed as the SPP of the case after the Supreme Court gave an order to remove G. Bhavani Singh. Now, Mr. Acharya will be expected to give an opinion to the Karnataka government on whether the verdict is appealable. Then, the Karnataka government can file an appeal, if necessary.

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