Karnataka HC sets up special bench to hear appeals by ex-Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa

The Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court on Thursday set up a special bench of Justice CR Kumaraswamy to hear the appeals filed by former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and three others who had questioned their conviction in the disproportionate assets case.

"Honorable The Chief Justice, High Court of Karnataka, is pleased to constitute a Special Bench of Honarable Justice CR Kumaraswamy for hearing of Crl.A Nos.835/2014 to 838/2014 (Jayalalithaa and others) on day-to-day basis," a notification of Karnataka High Court said on its website here.

The special bench has been set up after the Supreme Court had on December 18 last, directed the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court to constitute it to decide Jayalalithaa's plea within three months.

An apex court bench, headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu, had ordered that the hearing in the High Court on the appeal, filed by the AIADMK supremo challenging her conviction and sentence in the case, be conducted on a day-to-day basis.

On October 17, the apex court had granted conditional bail to Jayalalithaa, who was sent to jail by a trial court on September 27, saying that hearing on her appeal against conviction in the High Court should be completed in three months from December 18.

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. The appeals have been listed for hearing on Friday.