The Supreme Court will hear on May 11 a special leave petition filed by AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa challenging the trial court's order refusing to discharge her in the disproportionate assets case pending in a Bangalore court. The trial court has posted the case for May 7.
When senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi and counsel A. Navaneethakrishnan made a mention on Tuesday before a Bench, comprising Justice B. Sudershan Reddy and Justice S.S. Nijjar, for early listing, the Bench said it would come up for hearing on May 11.
In her special leave petition, Ms. Jayalalithaa stated that the entire proceedings against her under the Prevention of Corruption Act were a tool of harassment. She maintained that the object of Section 17 of the Act was to safeguard a diligent public servant from undue harassment. If the investigation itself had been done by an officer who was not competent to do so, then no prosecution could be maintained against the accused.
She said the investigation was without jurisdiction and further trial thereon was non est in the eye of the law and that by itself was clear proof of miscarriage of justice. The petitioner was greatly prejudiced as she had been mulcted with these proceedings out of political rivalry.
