Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and her close associate Sasikala have moved the Madras High Court against an order of a city magistrate directing them to be present in the court on October 1 in the income tax cases against them. On September 18, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Economic Offences-1, R. Dakshinamurthy, passed the order when the cases came up.
In the petition seeking to quash the order of the Additional CMM directing her to appear for questioning and framing charges, Ms. Jayalalithaa said the trial court failed to consider that Section 279 (2) of the Income Tax Act permitted her to compound the offence at any stage, either before or after the institution of criminal proceedings. She said she was willing to settle the issue amicably by using the benevolent provisions of the Act by filing the compounding applications. The time limit fixed by the Supreme Court for completing the trial had no significance because of the change in circumstances.
