The hearing on Jayalalitha’s disproportionate assets case will resume today, November 8th, 2011. A special court in Bangalore on October 21st had adjourned the hearing to a later date. The Supreme had earlier rejected a series of appeals from Jayalalitha asking for an exemption to appear in that court, which was located in a Bangalore prison. However, Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister, Jayalalitha is unlikely to appear in Court today also.

1500 policemen, National Security Guard commandos and a convoy of 20 cars had escorted the Chief Minister along a 60-km route from the HAL airport to Bangalore’s Central Prison as a result of her concerns over her security. However she was forced to attend two court proceedings, during which she answered 567 questions out of the 1339 questions framed by the trial court for her, after the Supreme Court’s rejection of her pleas over security.

The case was moved from Madras to Bangalore on the request of the opposition party, DMK, claiming that a fair and just trial cannot happen in the Chief Minister’s home state. Moreover, the Chief Minister had submitted an appeal stating that she does not want to cause more inconvenience to the people of Bangalore owing to the tight security she was receiving during her appearance in the Court. She also appealed to the court to grant her permission to answer the questions in writing. In the meanwhile the Supreme Court has given instructions to the Special Court in Bangalore to finish off with her questioning with this visit.

Jayalalitha’s disproportionate assets case

Report by Anupama