Jaya memorial row: Clarification sought on conviction in wealth case
Even as the state government has justified the construction of a memorial for former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa that she was not convicted in the disproportionate case, the Madras High Court on Wednesday directed Advocate General Vijay Narayan to offer clarification as to whether conviction of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa stood abated following her death.
By : migrator
Update: 2018-11-14 21:06 GMT
Chennai
The division bench comprising Justice M Sathyanarayanan and Justice N Seshasayee before whom the public interest litigation moved by advocate ML Ravi, president of Desiya Makkal Sakthi Katchi came up for hearing posted the plea to November 23 after seeking the advocate general to obtain the necessary clarification by then.
The government through R Venkatesan, Secretary, Tamil Development and Information Department on referring to the averments by the petitioner that Jayalalithaa was convicted in the disproportionate wealth case, submitted that the Supreme Court in its February 14, 2017 judgement had abated charges against her as she had died during the pendency of the appeal against her acquittal.
The counter also contended that a criminal appeal filed in the Supreme Court challenging the acquittal of Jayalalithaa from the wealth case by a single judge of the Karnataka High Court also got abated since she died before the verdict could be delivered.
“Therefore, as on date, in accordance with law, there is no conviction against the late former Chief Minister and the Government is well within its power in having decided to construct the memorial in honour of the former esteemed leader,” the counter filed by the government said while seeking the dismissal of the PIL.
The counter also made it clear that the state Coastal Zone Management Authority had given its clearance and the requisite planning and building permissions had been obtained from the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority and the city corporation.
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