Sasikala, two others appear before court in assets case

Jayalalithaa was also directed to appear before the court but later the order was revised granting exemption to her due to security reasons

Three accused, including TamilNadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's confidante Sasikala Natarajan, today appeared before a Special Court in the disproportionate assets case against them.

Besides Sasikala, her nephew Sudhakaran and her sister-in-law Ilavarasi were also present before Special Court Judge John Michael Cunha, who had last week directed them to appear before him.

On April 3, the judge had directed Jayalalithaa also to appear before the court but later revised his order granting exemption from it to her due to security reasons after the Karnataka High Court registry stated it would not be possible to provide security to her at a short notice.

He had issed the order to personally interact with the accused regarding pendency of a case related to the assets case in Madras High Court, saying it was suppressed by them.

Cunha had said that pendency of the case came to light only when a counsel for the accused produced the April 2 last order of the high court on an appeal filed in 2000 by the accused questioning attachment of certain properties made by a Chennai court during July, 2000.

He also noticed that even the Special Public Prosecutor, who was supposed to be representing the prosecution DVAC (Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption) in all cases connected to the disproportionate assets cases as per a Supreme Court order, was not aware of pendency of the appeal.

When the court resumed the hearing today, the judge asked Sasikala why SPP Bhavani Singh was not given the notice to represent the prosecution in the case before Madras High Court.

She said "I was not briefed properly by our lawyer who had resigned from the case earlier." The Judge then adjourned the matter without specifying any date.

The disproportionate case was shifted here in 2003 following a Supreme Court directive on a petition by DMK which contended that a fair trial was not possible in Chennai during Jayalalithaa's second tenure as Chief Minister then.