DA case: SC notice to K'taka on Jayalalithaa's plea

The Supreme Court today issued notice to Karnataka government on a plea of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa against the removal of Special Public Prosecutor in a disproportionate assets case against her and said no fresh appointment of public prosecutor be made in the case.

A bench headed by Justice B S Chauhan also issued notice to Bhavani Singh, who had been removed recently from the case as special public prosecutor, and fixed the matter for further hearing on September 4.

Earlier, the court had agreed to hear Jayalalithaa's plea in which she had said the decision to remove the prosecutor needed to be reversed.

The Karnataka government had, on August 26, issued a notification withdrawing the appointment of Singh as SPP.

"The appointment of senior advocate Singh as SPP to conduct the disproportionate case against Jayalalithaa and others in the special court is hereby withdrawn with immediate effect," the notification said.

The 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 her earlier tenure as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to ensure a fair and free trial.

She had alleged that the case was foisted against her by the previous DMK government for political reasons.

She had earlier recorded her statement under Section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) before the trial court.