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Charges framed against Jaya in Tansi land deal case

A special judge today framed charges against former chief minister and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham general secretary J Jayalalitha, her close associate Sasikala Natarajan and three others in the Tansi land deal case.

The case relates to the purchase of prime land belonging to the Tamil Nadu Small Industries Corporation at Guindy in Madras by Jaya Publications in which Jayalalitha and Sasikala were partners.

After Judge P Anbazhagan read out the charges against Jayalalitha, Sasikala and the three others, who were present in the jam-packed court hall, they all pleaded not guilty.

The special judge fixed July 5 for examination of witnesses, marking the commencement of trial in the sensational case.

Several AIADMK workers, led by former ministers and party MPs, thronged the Madras collectorate office at the busy Parry's Corner where the special courts are located. Jayalalitha arrived at 11.15 am. The process of framing of charges commenced immediately thereafter.

The prosecution case is that Jayalalitha, while holding the chief minister's post, had violated the code of conduct and purchased 3.0786 acres of prime land and buildings at Guindy belonging to the state-owned Tansi for Jaya Publications.

The sale of Tansi land had caused a loss of Rs 350 million to the state exchequer as the purchase proceeds were much below the then market rates. Also, the transaction involved evasion of stamp duty and registration fees valued at Rs 4.3 million, the prosecution contended.

Framing of charges in the case, originally scheduled for May 25, was delayed due to the reported indisposition of former rural industries minister Mohammed Asif, a co-accused in the case.

The judge was to go to a private clinic at Mylapore in Madras where Asif is being treated, to frame charges against him this afternoon.

Though the crime branch CID police, the investigating agency in the case, had filed the charge-sheet as early as November 1996, charges could not be framed in the last two years as the accused, one after the another, had been filing petitions in a bid to stall it on some pretext or the other. In all, they had filed 61 petitions and sought as many as 150 adjournments.

The other accused in the case are: former Tansi chairman and managing director T R Srinivasan, deputy collector (stamps) S Nagarajan and former IAS officer Karpoorasundara Pandian.

UNI

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