Amma acquitted

AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa has shaken off after 19 years the albatross around her neck in style. The Karnataka high court not only acquitted her of all corruption and conspiracy charges in the Rs.66.6 crore disproportionate assets case, but also rebutted every single charge for which she had been convicted by a special court on September 27, 2014, paving the way for her return as Tamil Nadu chief minister more than seven months after she had to step down.
“The trial court has failed to appreciate the evidence in a proper perspective. The immovable properties were acquired by borrowing huge loans. It is difficult to infer that the properties were acquired by means of ill-gotten money .Taking into consideration the overall circumstances and material placed on record, in my view, the judgment by the trial court suffers from infirmity and it is not sustainable in law,“ Justice C R Kumaraswamy said in his 919-page judgment on Monday , overturning 1,136 page verdict of special court judge John Michael D'Cunha.
Three other accused in the case -Jayalalithaa's friend N Sasikalaa, J Ilavarasi and V N Sudhagaran -were also acquitted by the court. Justice Kumaraswamy walked in at 10.59 am and read the order page of his verdict. It was all over within two minutes. “Litigation made by persons for political gain and to settle the scores should not be entertained,“ the judge said, accepting the arguments of Jayalalithaa's legal team hook, line and sinker.
Jayalalithaa, 67, and three other accused were not present in the court, as, according to the Criminal Procedure Code, the accused are required to be present only in the trial court.
The verdict triggered celebrations among AIADMK leaders and workers, who burst firecrackers, distributed sweets and danced outside Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden residence in Chennai and across Tamil Nadu. Jayalalithaa was unseated as chief minister on September 27 as the conviction automatically disqualified her from being a member of the assembly .
Jayalalithaa is expected to take the oath as CM again within a week. An AIADMK statement said Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted Jayalalithaa on her acquittal. Special public prosecutor B V Acharya, who was brought in by the Supreme Court at the eleventh hour, reacted strongly to the verdict, saying the prosecution case was seriously prejudiced as Karnataka and the SPP appointed by it were denied an opportunity to convince the high court through oral arguments.
In his order, Justice Kumaraswamy rejected Acharya's charge that the accused had accumulated more than 300 immovable properties using the tainted money , and said the prosecution relied only on sale deeds of various properties without bothering to submit materials to prove benami transactions. “The prosecution mainly relies on evidence of the sub-registrar and brokers and also the sale deeds.Except marking the sale deeds, there is no other evidence. The burden lies on the prosecution to establish benami transaction. The prosecution has not adduced any evidence with regard to allegation of benami transaction,“ he said.
Even as a minor, Jayalalithaa had been filing her income tax returns, Justice Kumaraswamy said, adding: “She was a cine actress. She has filed returns since she was a minor. The property bearing No 36, Poes Garden was acquired by her mother and also Natya Kala Nikethan. She acquired the adjacent property for Rs.8 lakh. Except this, she has not purchased any property .“
The combined value of propertis acquired by Sasikalaa, Elavarasi and Sudhagaran amounted to just Rs.6.24 crore, he said, adding the 800 acre Kodanadu was bought for Rs.3.5 crore. “The prosecution itself has shown the property of the four accused, firms and companies to the extent of Rs.9.34 crore, whereas the loan borrowed by them is to the extent of Rs.24.17 crore,“ he said, concluding that loans should be treated as lawful income.
“Though the trial court in its judgment mentioned that the accused availed themselves of loan from Indian Bank, it has not considered the same as income. Therefore, the trial court has erred in not considering the loans as income,“ he said.
As for the additional constructions that had taken place at Jayalaltihaa's Poes Garden residence, Justice Kumaraswamy rejected the vigilance estimation of Rs.27 crore, and held that he would accept only Rs.5 crore as construction expenses, as claimed by the accused. He, consequently , knocked off about Rs.22 crore from the disproportion ate assets listed against Jayalalithaa's name. He also accepted her claim that Rs.14 crore had been mobilized through an annual subscription scheme for party organ Namadhu MGR, and deducted that sum as well.                      
The judge completely rejected the vigilance valuation of apparels and footwear seized from Jayalalithaa's residence. “There were four members residing, along with many servants. The prosecution has not segregated the footwear. When they were acquired was also not forthcoming from the evidence. I decline to take the value of the footwear. In so far as the apparels of Jayalalithaa, Sasikalaa and Elavarasi are concerned, the prosecution has examined a witness who deposed that there were 914 silk sari, chudidhars and nighties -altogether 6,195 sets. Age of the saris is not mentioned and there are three women residing the house. The prosecution has not segregated wearing apparels of the accused. Besides Jayalalithaa was a cine actress from the age of 18 years. Most of the apparels used for the purpose of film shooting were handed over to her by film producers. In that view of the matter, I decline to take the value of the apparels,“ he said.