SC lifts stay on trial against Jaya in disproportionate assets case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today lifted its stay on the day-to-day trial in the 18-year-old Rs 66.65 crore disproportionate assets case against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. The apex court vacated its April 7 order by which the trial in the case was stayed for three weeks due to the illness of Special Public Prosecutor (SPP), G Bhawani Singh, who had to undergo medical treatment. [caption id=“attachment_1457923” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  J Jayalalithaa. AFP[/caption] A bench of justices BS Chauhan and J Chelameswar ordered resumption of trial from tomorrow after senior advocate L Nageshwar Rao, appearing for SPP, said that he has recovered from his illness. The SPP had approached the apex court against the order of the Karnataka High Court which had refused to allow his plea and dismissed his petition against the trial court order imposing a penalty of Rs 60,000 a day for seeking repeated adjournments in the trial and causing delay in the judicial process. The trial court had on 14 March fixed the amount based on the fees the state government was paying the prosecutor to conduct the trial. The apex court had on 30 September, last year quashed the decision of Congress-led Karnataka government to remove Singh as the SPP in the case, saying it was a “malafide” decision triggered due to “switch over” of government in the state. He was appointed during the tenure of BJP-led government in the state. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) chief is accused of amassing Rs 66.65 crore between 1991 and 1996 when she was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The case was transferred by the apex court from Chennai to Bangalore in 2003 during Jayalalithaa’s earlier tenure as Chief Minister for a free and fair trial. Besides Jayalalithaa, three other accused in the case are Sasikala, Ilavarasi and VN Sudhakaran. PTI