Glaring errors in Jayalalithaa verdict, claims prosecutor

The Karnataka High Court's judgment acquitting former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa and her three aides had glaring errors in computing their assets, special public prosecutor B.V. Acharya claimed on Tuesday.

"The learned judge (Justice C.R. Kumaraswamy) has given details of assets and income on page 913 of the voluminous (920 pages) judgment. As per prosecution, total assets were valued at Rs.66.65 crore, based on the argument of construction cost of properties and wedding expense of V.N. Sudhakaran," Acharya told IANS here a day after the verdict was delivered.

Sudhakaran is the disowned foster son of 67-year-old Jayalalithaa.

Sudharakan, his aunt Sasikala Natarajan and her aunt J. Ellavarsi were also acquitted in the disproportionate assets' case, in which the trial court convicted and sentenced them to four years jail with a fine of Rs.10 crore each.

"The amounts calculated and figures mentioned by the trial court, prosecution and defence counsels do not tally. Reasons attributed for the expenses are conflicting and numbers mentioned by the trial court judge, the prosecution and defence counsel are contradictory," Acharya said.

For instance, the trial court judge (John Michael Cunha) has assumed the wedding expense to be Rs.5 crore, while the prosecutor (Bhavani Singh) claimed it was Rs.6 crore.

The prosecution did not take into account the income of the accused in the form of loans from state-run banks. The total of 10 loan accounts was Rs.24.15 crore, he said.

"Therefore, in terms of percentage, there is a glaring arithmetical error. As it has come to our notice only now, we are considering all options that are available. If we decide to file an appeal before the Supreme Court, it will be an excellent way to get relief," Acharya said.

In a related development, Karnataka Law Minister T.B. Jayachandra said he would consult Acharya and the state Advocate General Raviverma Kumar on whether to file a special leave petition in the Supreme Court against the high court verdict acquitting Jayalalaithaa.

"I have asked the law secretary to study the verdict. We will consult the SPP and the AG and take a final decision soon," Jayachandra told reporters here.