Appeal in disproportionate case cannot be knee-jerk: Congress

The appeal in the disproportionate assets case against AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa cannot be 'knee-jerk' and should be analysed from all angles, former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said.
"Appealing cannot be knee-jerk, not appealing (also) cannot be knee-jerk. It is the responsibility of the state government to analyse all angles," Ramesh told reporters here.
Rubbishing reports that the Congress government in Karnataka was delaying filing an appeal in the case, he said, "The Karnataka government has been given three months. Three months mathematically is 90 days. At the end of 11 days, you are saying that the Karnataka government is dragging its feet. It is an unfair statement".

"These are very serious issues. It (the judgement) has to be studied, it has to be analysed. There are reports of inconsistencies, errors (in the judgement). Ultimately the best legal call will be taken. I think when a state government decides to appeal or not to appeal, that must be backed by the best legal advice they get."
Jayalalithaa was disqualified following her conviction in the Rs 66.66 crore disproportionate assets case by a trial court in Bengaluru on September 27. The Karnataka High Court had subsequently acquitted her of the charges on May 11.
On May 18, the Karnataka government had indicated it would take "some more days" to decide on filing an appeal in the Supreme Court against acquittal of Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case.

Ramesh said senior Congress leaders have undertaken a week long campaign across major cities to assess the one year performance of the BJP government.

"Earlier, Modi had said in Parliament that the NDA would be of maximum governance and minimum government. But today one year later, Modi's government is maximum governance and one man government", he said.
Ramesh also demanded to know why BJP government had earlier opposed proposals like GST Bill and UIDAI initiated by the Congress government and was now going ahead with it.
"Congress party supports GST. When Modi was Gujarat Chief Minister, he opposed it for three years. But now he has done a U-turn and is supporting it. These U-turns are good for India, but why Modi and BJP were obstructing it?", he asked.