High court to hear Jaya’s bail plea today
BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court will hear J Jayalalithaa’s appeal against her conviction in a corruption case on Wednesday, while the former Tamil Nadu CM refused to meet her successor in jail, saying she was unwell.
The court’s decision came within hours of an adjournment of the hearing until Monday, as Jayalalithaa’s lawyers argued that her incarceration was causing law and order problems in Tamil Nadu.
The court had earlier deferred the hearing as the Karnataka government failed to appoint a public prosecutor. Emotions have been running high in Tamil Nadu after a trial court sentenced the AIADMK leader to four years in prison in an 18-year-old corruption case with her supporters spilling out into the streets, disrupting traffic and setting buses afire. There were even some self-immolation bids.
Jayalalithaa’s lawyers contested the need for a public prosecutor in such a case, saying the judge of a higher court can adjudicate the appeal on its merit without seeking a prosecutor’s view. They also said her health was unstable.
The AIADMK chief refused to meet current Tamil Nadu CM O Panneerselvam on the same ground. Jail authorities told Panneerselvam, who came to Bengaluru to seek his party chief’s blessings, that Jayalalithaa refused to meet him as the cell she was kept in was far from the visitor’s area and she was not in a physical state to walk the distance.