The Supreme Court directed her to appear before the court after Karnataka's chief secretary and director general of police told the court they have made all arrangements for her security.
Stressing that “public figures” such as Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa can’t remain aloof from the public, the Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down her plea for exemption from personal appearance in a criminal case scheduled to be heard by a court in Bangalore on Thursday.
Jayalalithaa is facing the charge of amassing wealth worth Rs 65crore from unknown sources while she was chief minister of Tamil Nadu between 1991 and 1996.
With the fall of her AIADMK rule and her arch rival M Karunanidhi’s DMK forming government in Tamil Nadu, she apprehended that she wouldn’t get fair trial in the state and moved the top court. The case was transferred to Bangalore.
However, she has been fighting shy in facing the trial and made several attempts to avoid personal appearance in the court on the ground of security.
When the Karnataka government on Wednesday told the top court that strict security arrangements have been made to protect her, the court told her counsel: “You (Jayalalithaa) are a public figure… How can a public figure remain away from people?”
As Jayalalithaa’s lawyer Mukul Rohtagi sought shifting of the trial venue to a place nearer to airport, the judges reminded him that the BJP government has already laid down a helipad in the vicinity of the court complex — the venue facing the Bangalore jail where former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa has been lodged.
“What more do you want? The helipad has been prepared. Once the hearing is over, fly back home,” the bench said.
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