The Supreme Court on Monday asked the special public prosecutor, Bhavani Singh, in the Rs 66 crore disproportionate assets case filed against J Jayalalithaa to appear before the special court which has been conducting the trial against the Tamil Nadu chief minister.

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The court also reduced the penalty imposed by the special court in Bangalore on Singh for his failure to appear in two hearings, from Rs1.2 lakh (Rs 60,000 for each) to only Rs 20,000.

Further, the court declined to extend its stay on trial which means the special court will resume its hearing of 18 year-old case on Tuesday. Appearing before a bench headed by Justice B S Chauhan, Singh's counsel submitted that his client was unwell and could not appear in the case. He also claimed to have furnished a medical certificate in this regard.

Accepting the submission, the bench asked the government lawyer to appear before the trial court on Tuesday.

Earlier, the special court had imposed a cost of one-day salary for two consecutive days on Singh for abstaining from the court to resume final arguments in the disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa and three others.

Singh had pleaded for adjournment on grounds of ill health.

The disproportionate assets case involves the alleged accumulation of wealth worth over Rs 66 crore by Jayalalithaa between 1991 and 1996.

The case proceedings were shifted out of Tamil Nadu by the apex court on her plea fearing that she might be denied a fair trial in the state then ruled by her arch rival DMK chief M Karunanidhi, whom she accused of implicating her in a false case.