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Madras court dismisses Jaya's petition

Special Judge-3 P Anbazhagan Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalitha seeking a direction to the state Crime Branch CID, probing the Tansi land deal case, to produce before court all relevant documents, files and records placed before the state governor for granting sanction to prosecute her.

Dismissing the petition, the judge said there was no force in the prayer.

The CB-CID had produced statements of witnesses and connected documents before the court. Copies of all documents, statements of witnesses, including sanction order had been furnished to the accused. The discharge petitions filed by the accused were also dismissed by the court, the judge said.

He said it was also pertinent to note that the sanction order was challenged in the Madras high court which held that the governor had independently applied her mind to every aspect of the matter before granting sanction and it was valid.

In her petition, Jayalalitha contended that a reading of the sanction order did not indicate whether all the materials collected during the investigation by the prosecution had been placed before the governor and whether she had applied her mind before granting the sanction. Hence the court had a legal duty to scrutinise the sanction, she added.

On behalf of the CB-CID, it was submitted that the sanctioning authority had elaborately stated the nature of offence committed by Jayalalitha and others in the impugned sanction order itself. The order also revealed that all the materials such as copy of first information report, statement of witnesses and connected records were fully examined by the governor before granting sanction.

The case relates to alleged irregularities in the purchase of the government-owned Tansi land at Guindy by Jaya publications and Sasi enterprises, in which Jayalalitha and her close associate Sasikala Natarajan were partners, and R R Industries.

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