The prosecution team in the former Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa’s appeal in the Karnataka High Court against her conviction by a special court said on Monday that it was functioning under a GO issued by the Karnataka government in 2013 and not the one issued by Tamil Nadu’s Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC).
Speaking to The Hindu on the phone, Murugesh Mardi, who is assisting Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Bhavani Singh in the case, said that since Ms. Jayalalithaa filed an appeal in the High Court, it meant the trial process was still not complete. “There is no need to issue a new notification for appointment of the SPP. Technically, since the appeal is only a continuation of the trial, the 2013 GO appointing Mr. Singh as the SPP still holds good,” he said.
Asked why Mr. Singh claimed in the court on September 30 that he was “yet to be communicated about his appointment as the SPP” if the 2013 notification was still valid, Mr. Mardi said the stand was taken as a newspaper reported that a new GO was issued by the Karnataka government.
“We did not want to take the risk of representing without seeing the new notification. But it turned out that there was no such new GO,” he pointed out.
About the DVAC notification, he said it was a technical matter to ensure logistics support, including fees and other expenses. “We have been appointed by the Karnataka government,” he reiterated.
Official sources said in Chennai that the appointment of the SPP was based on a notification issued by the Karnataka government in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court. This was in compliance with the Supreme Court’s order.
The appointment was for the entire case, and not in stages. Though the trial was completed, the case was still alive, and the notification (appointing the SPP) valid. The DVAC was only informed of it and had no role in the appointment. There was no provision to appoint a separate SPP for appeals, the sources clarified.
(Additional reporting by S. Vijay Kumar )
