DMK violated probe norms: Jayalalithaa counsel

BENGALURU: Senior advocate B. Kumar, representing AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa and her three aides in the disproportionate assets (DA) case, has contended that the then DMK government had violated norms while appointing officials to investigate the case.

He said on Friday that Sections 17 and 18 of Prevention of Corruption Act were not followed during the appointments and it was politically motivated to implicate Jayalalithaa.

While relying upon a section of General Clauses Act, 1897 and few SC judgments, Kumar further argued that DMK government gave authorisation to many officials without giving proper reasons for doing so.

“Nallamma Naidu was reappointed as the investigation officer (IO) in 2006, when DMK came back to power, raising suspicion that the then government had political intentions to implicate Jayalalithaa,” he said. He pointed out that the officer was discontinued as IO by the earlier Jayalalithaa government.

He also stressed that the DMK government was taking extraordinary interest by appointing as many as 150 police personnel to investigate the case.

The special bench of Justice C R Kumaraswamy later adjourned the matter to Monday. It may be recalled that the special court in Bengaluru had earlier held Jayalalithaa and three others guilty of corruption and sentenced them to four years of jail term and a fine of Rs 100 crore was slapped on Jayalalithaa.