The curious twists in Jayalalithaa wealth cases
P S Joseph
Chennai:April 17: The
supreme court has extended the bail of J Jayalaithaa ,former chief minister of
Tamil Nadu till May 11,which is a boon to the beleaguered AIADMK she heads .By
May her AiADMK government completes four
years in rule in Tamil Nadu and it shows of signs of cracking up despite there is no semblance
of unity among the opposition and her arch rival DMK is facing corruption
charges.The court has directed the Karnataka high court not to pronounce
judgment in her disproportionate assets case(DA) till May 12
The
Makkal Muthalavar(peoples chief minister) as she is fondly called by the AIADMK
followers knows it is no cake walk for her in the case as in the assembly
elections. Even after four years of her rule the popular sympathy in Tamil Nadu
is in her favour and her main rivals D M K and MDMK are in disarray
But
cracks are appearing in the political edifice carefully nurtured by her . Two
of her ministers are accused of graft. One minister is dismissed and is now cooling his heels in
the jail.The killing of 20 Tamil Nadu tribals
in Andhra forests allegedly by fake encounter is another issue affecting the government. Though
she has good relations with the BJP and the government needs AIADMK`s support
in Rajaysabha she is not in a position to command overt or covert support from
the centre.
Even
the pronouncement of the judgment in the DA case in Karnataka is in chopped waters as the case against the
prosecutor in the case Bhawani Singh is in the supreme court.As the two member
bench has disagreed on the verdict it has been posted before a larger bench and
may be heard on April 21st.
AIADMK secretary K Anbazhakan has questioned the appointment of Bhawani Singh
again as prosecutor n the DA case which has been heard and kept reserved for
judgment. If Bhawani Singh has to be removed as the prosecution lawyer the case
has to be heard afresh and new verdict to be made.
Meanwhile
the transfer of the Karnatakta high court chief
justice to Odissa has also shockd
the opposition.They claim that it would affect the speedy declaration of
verdict. The judge Kumaraswamy might retire by August which means a new judge
has to be found if Bhawani Shankar is replaced
As
it is a high profile case involving crores which is meticulously documenetd by the
Tamil Nadu police and verified by the lower court,the high court would have tough
time pronouncing the verdict as it involves one of the firebrand leaders in India
If the verdict is against Jayalaithaa the fortunes of AIADMK would be at peril
as it would be along time before the final verdict come from the Supreme court.
Even if it is not upheld the damage to the party and the leader would be great
