Bengaluru: J Jayalalithaa’s widely expected return as chief minister has reportedly been delayed over a possible appeal by Karnataka against her acquittal in a corruption case on Monday.
Sources in her AIADMK party say the 67-year-old is waiting for a move by the Karnataka government, which had said yesterday that it is examining whether the decision to clear Jayalalithaa was based on flawed math.
O Panneerselvam, who stepped in as chief minister after Jayalalithaa’s conviction by a trial court last year and has never objected to being described as her proxy, went to her Poes Garden residence in Chennai with 19 other Tamil Nadu ministers on Wednesday.
The meeting took place amid speculation that the Tamil Nadu government is prepping for Ms Jayalalithaa’s swearing in.
On Monday, the Karnataka High Court cancelled Jayalalithaa’s conviction and four-year jail sentence saying that she had been incorrectly charged with accumulating wealth disproportionate to her known sources of income during her first term as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
High Court judge Justice CR Kumaraswamy had said that he based his decision on a calculation of her assets that suggested that unaccounted wealth was about 8 per cent of her income, which was “within the permissible limit of 10 per cent”.
But the prosecution and Jayalalithaa’s political rivals have alleged that the judge miscalculated the former chief minister’s illegal wealth, that it far exceeds the limit and is in fact, 76 per cent of her known income. As Tamil Nadu opposition parties urged the Karnataka government to appeal against the acquittal, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah yesterday said his government is examining the allegation.
Ms Jayalalithaa had to step down after her conviction in September last year, she is looking for an auspicious date for her oath ceremony, as per the sources.
Swamy decides to appeal against Jayalilthaa’s acquittal
On the other hand Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy has announced that he intends to appeal against her acquittal. Mr. Swamy, in a tweet, said he had “decided” to file a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court against her acquittal. In 1996, he had filed a criminal case against Jayalalithaa, claiming that she had, during her tenure as Chief Minister 1991-96, amassed wealth disproportionate to her income.
“I have decided to file SLP in SC after June 1st if Ktaka govt does not file. So no need to go to KHC” he tweeted on Thursday.
Two days ago he had similarly indicated that he would appeal against Karnataka High Court’s verdict: “In my Appeal to SC In JJ DA case. I will prove that the KHC judgment is a “tragedy of arithmetic errors”. JJ will have to resign again if CM.”
