Disproportionate assets case: Jayalalithaa defends continuance of special public prosecutor

Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today defended in the Supreme Court the continuance of Bhawani Singh as special public prosecutor (SPP) before Karnataka High Court during the hearing of her plea against conviction in the disproportionate assets case. "Bhawani Singh is not an intruder. He has a notification in his favour and in such matters, the de-facto doctrine comes in his favour," senior advocate Fali S Nariman, appearing for the AIADMK chief, told a bench of justices Madan B Lokur and R Banumathi.

The bench was hearing a plea of DMK leader K Anbazhagan seeking removal of SPP Bhawani Singh, raising questions about his impartiality as prosecutor in the case. Anbazhagan has also sought a stay of appeal proceedings before the High Court in the case.

Nariman said the apex court, in 2013, had quashed a notification of the state government removing Singh as SPP and as a consequence, the earlier notification appointing him as the SPP, remained.

The senior lawyer said nobody including the state government had challenged the decision of the apex court and in this situation, the SPP had all the right to appear before the high court even during the appeal proceedings. The criminal case does not end with the trial and the appeal proceedings are part of the case and moreover, the SPP was appointed to deal with the case, he said. 

The hearing remained inconclusive and would resume on April 7.

Earlier, the court had come down on the state government for allowing the SPP to represent it also in the High Court during appeal proceedings. "Once the trial is over, Singh has no authority to appear in the appeal proceeding before High Court," the counsel for Karnataka government told the bench. To this, the bench had said "why didn't you prevent him from appearing? ...Even after that, you did nothing. It is one thing to say in words and another thing to do in deeds. You have only said it in words." 

The bench had said it would decide the question whether in law, an SPP, appointed to conduct trial in a case, could appear at a later stage in appellate courts too.

Earlier, the court had issued notice to the AIADMK chief and other convicts - Jayalalithaa's aide Sasikala, two of her relatives and Karnataka government on the plea of the DMK leader.

The apex court had in last December extended by four months the bail of Jayalalithaa and asked the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court to constitute a special bench to decide on her plea expeditiously within three months.

On October 17, the apex court had granted conditional bail to Jayalalithaa who was sent to jail by a trial court on September 27.

The 66-year-old politician, who had moved the Supreme Court for bail on October 9 after she was denied it by the Karnataka High Court, had submitted that she had been sentenced to only four years jail and was suffering from various ailments, as grounds for immediate relief.

The Special Court had held Jayalalithaa and three others guilty of corruption. The court had also slapped a fine of Rs 100 crore on the AIADMK chief and Rs 10 crore fine on each of the three other convicts.