AIADMK (Amma) general secretary V.K. Sasikala prefers to be questioned in Tamilin cases registered against her and her nephew V. Bhaskaran by Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the provisions of Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) for illegal exchange of foreign currency. She also wants the questionnaire to be furnished in advance to her advocate before framing charges against her and Bhaskaran.
The ED had filed four cases against Sasikala in 1997 and 2001 for the alleged payments made in foreign currencies to firms in the U.S. and Singapore for hiring transponders and uplink facilities for JJ TV without getting the permission of the Reserve Bank of India.
On May 4, A. Zakir Hussain, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate-Economic Offence I, besides imposing certain conditions, permitted her to be questioned through video conferencing from the Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru where she is undergoing a jail term after convicted in the disproportionate assets case.
Filing an undertaking through her advocate on Wednesday, Sasikala submitted that she would not plead that she would be prejudiced on account of questioning through video-conferencing facility before the court. Further she requested that she should be questioned only in Tamil as that is the only language known to her.
Sasikala’s advocate filed yet another petition seeking the court to furnish questionnaire to her in order to enable her to answer questions. Special Public Prosecutor of Enforcement Directorate stoutly opposed her plea.
Mr. Hussain directed the Enforcement Directorate to file a counter to her petition and adjourned the case for disposal on June 2.
