Special Court: Jayalalithaa directed to appear on April 5

A special court on Thursday directed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to appear before the court on April 5 in the disproportionate assets case.

The other three accused are Jayalalithaa’s close aide Sasikala Natarajan, Sasikala’s nephew Sudhakaran and Sasikala’s sister-in-law Ilavarasi.

In her first appearance on October 20, 2011, after the case was shifted here,  Jayalalithaa had deposed before the special court in a closed-door hearing.

The disproportionate case was shifted to Tamil Nadu in 2003 following a Supreme Court directive on a petition by DMK, which contended that a fair trial was not possible in Chennai during her tenure as Chief Minister then.

Jayalalithaa faces charges of accumulation of over Rs 66 crore assets, disproportionate to her known sources of income during 1991-95 when she was in her first term as chief minister.