DMK president M. Karunanidhi said on Thursday that the judge of the Bangalore Special Court trying the disproportionate assets cases against AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa and a few others was “irked by the delaying tactics of the defence,” forcing him to fix the date for judgment.
In a statement, he said fixing September 20 for the verdict had not ruffled him. Parrying a question what changes he anticipated in the State politics then, he merely said: “Definitely, it will bring in a change of mindset.”
The DMK leader said the judge had chosen to announce the verdict date, treating the final arguments as over. This itself was a clear indication that there were attempts to delay the judgment. After 15 years, the case had reached the final stage and at this juncture, the accused pleaded for exclusion of their names from the charge of conspiracy. This raised a question about what they had been doing all these years.
The judge on August 20 announced that he would give his ruling on the petition of the accused along with the final judgment. Subsequent to this, the respondents moved the Karnataka High Court for a decision on their plea for exclusion from the conspiracy charge.
Cable firmOn the Supreme Court dismissing a petition filed by the Maran brothers challenging the cancellation of the licence for Kal Cables of the Sun Group, Mr. Karunanidhi said he came to know of it only from journalists. On reports of reinstatement of his son M.K. Alagiri into the party again, the DMK leader said “he was not willing to oblige the media.”
