JAYALALITHAA IN BANGALORE COURT FOR ASSEST CASE

JAYALALITHAA IN BANGALORE COURT

FOR ASSEST CASE

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Thursday appeared in a court here to give her statement in an over a decade-old disproportionate assets case.This is her first appearance in the court, nearly eight years after the case was shifted to the city from Chennai to ensure free and fair trial. Jayalalithaa is charged with amassing Rs.66 crore between 1991 and 1996 when she was Tamil Nadu chief minister.Only a few of her lawyers were allowed inside the court of special judge B.M. Mallikarjunaiah, who held the sitting in Bangalore's central prison complex in view of Jayalalithaa's security needs.

The Tamil Nadu chief minister is provided with Z-plus security.She landed at the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd's airport in the city centre and drove in a convoy of vehicles to the prison complex in eastern suburb of Paprappana Agrahara, about 10 km away.She greeted curious onlookers on the way with her typical 'namaste' and a smile. Jayalalithaa was directed by the Supreme Court to appear in person in the Bangalore court though she had cited security concerns and her busy schedule as chief minister to seek exemption.The apex court had rejected her plea to be allowed to give her statement through video conference.

The Parappana Agrahara jail was heavily guarded with around 1,500 Bangalore police personnel and since late Wednesday assembly of five or more people in a 500 metre radius of the complex was banned. The ban order will be in force till she flies back to Chennai, about 350 km away, soon after making her statement.

Jayalalithaa was accompanied by her close friend and aide Sasikala and the latter’s relative Ilavarasi, both of whom are co-accused in the case, when she reached the special court premises in a SUV at 10.30 am on Thursday,20th October,2011.. She arrived in Bangalore by a special aircraft, which landed at HAL airport at 10 am, before driving to the special court venue in a convoy of nine vehicles. Crowds swelled outside Gandhi Bhavan in Parappana Agrahara on the outskirts of Bangalore in anticipation of the arrival of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa for recording of her statement in the disproportionate assets case.
A large number of AIADMK workers from Tamil Nadu, Bangalore and other parts of Karnataka gathered outside the Gandhi Bhavan, a temporary venue fixed by the Special Court for Ms. Jayalalithaa’s appearance in view of her security requirements. With hundreds of policemen posted at the venue, the temporary court resembled a fortress. Barricades have been erected about a kilometre away from Gandhi Bhavan and entry to the public barred.

A group of 20 to 25 lawyers from Madras High Court, who had turned up at Parappana Agrahara, were denied entry by the police, leading to angry verbal altercations. A group of AIADMK supporters carrying placards were also chased away from the venue. AIADMK’s Karnataka unit legal cell Secretary R. Jagannath too was denied entry. “I have attended every hearing of the case since it was shifted to Bangalore in 2003. But, I have been kept out of this hearing”, he complained. Prohibitory orders have been clamped around the temporary special court premises. A 23-member team of security personnel from Tamil Nadu has arrived at the venue.

The judge of the Special Court, B.M. Mallikarjunaiah, arrived at the venue amidst security at 9.40 a.m. Ms. Jayalalithaa’s counsel B. Kumar and a battery of six lawyers accompanying him were let into the court hall. Ms. Jayalalithaa is scheduled to arrive at HAL airport in a special flight and drive to the special court, where the recording of her statement is expected to begin at 11 a.m. More than hundred flex boards, welcoming the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, have been put up along the five kilometre distance from Central Silk Board junction to the venue of the temporary court.

                                                                           Prof. John Kurakar