Lawyers for AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa on Wednesday said the Supreme Court may be moved in the next couple of days against the Karnataka High Court order rejecting the plea for bail and suspension of sentence given by the special court in the disproportionate assets case.
Sources close to Ms. Jayalalithaa’s legal team said the special leave petition was drafted and ready. The team has also got the copy of the High Court order.
The Supreme Court complex was abuzz with speculation that the AIADMK leader would move the apex court on Wednesday itself. On Tuesday, the High Court had rejected her pleas.
The High Court had also rejected similar pleas of the other accused in the case — V.K. Sasikala, V.N. Sudhakaran and J. Elavarasi.
In its 46-page order, the High Court cited judicial precedents from the Supreme Court to reason that the mere fact that the accused were on bail and did not misuse their liberty does not per se warrant suspension of execution of their sentence and grant of bail to them. Rejecting arguments by senior advocate Ram Jethmalani that Ms. Jayalalithaa was entitled to bail, the High Court observed that the trial court had already judicially assessed the evidence against the accused, and the resultant conviction certainly acted as a disqualification.
It said the decision to suspend the execution of sentence under Section 389 Cr.PC rested entirely on the discretion of the Appellate Court. The High Court said the relief under the provision could not be equated to grant of bail during the pre-trial stage.
“The word ‘may’ used in Section 389 Cr.PC does not say that it is an absolute right of the accused to seek suspension of sentence,” the High Court order read.
