NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has ruled that the late Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa will not be declared convict in the disproportionate assets case. The Karnataka government had sought a review of the apex court's order abating fine of £10 million on Jaya, but an apex court bench headed by Justice Pinaki Chandra Bose, and comprising of Justice Amitava Roy dismissed the plea.
The government said the SC's verdict of abatement of the corruption case against the late Tamil Nadu chief minister stands as a fault in the record, which deserves to be re-looked at. The bench concluded that the case against Jayalalithaa stood abated with her death. A two-judge bench of the apex court had convicted VK Sasikala on February 14, and ordered her to surrender to the law enforcement authorities immediately to serve the remainder of her four-year jail term.
"If a party dies after the conclusion of the arguments and the judgment is reserved, there is no question of abatement of appeal and that the judgment subsequently pronounced shall have the same force and effect as if the same was pronounced before the death took place," Karnataka had submitted in a review petition, represented by counsel Joseph Aristotle.
"There are no provisions either in the Constitution or in the Supreme Court Rules, 2013 for such abatement of appeal. On the other hand, the Supreme Court Rules, 2013 provide that both in case of civil appeals as well as election petitions there will be no abatement if the death takes place after conclusion of hearing," the review petition had contended.
