SC admits plea against central notification
on Jaya's corruption cases
The Supreme Court today admitted a petition filed by Tamil Nadu's advocate-general challenging the validity of the Centre's notification transferring the corruption cases against former chief minister J Jayalalitha and others, and fixed March 8 as the next date for the hearing.
A division bench comprising Justice G T Nanavati and Justice S P Kurdukar admitted the petition after hearing the submissions of senior counsel Fali S Nariman appearing for the advocate-general.
The court asked the Union of India to file its counter before the next date of hearing.
The court directed that Jayalalitha, general secretary of the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and others who had challenged a Madras high court order upholding the notification issued by the state government, transferring the 46 corruption cases to three special courts, would be joined as respondents in the petition filed by the advocate-general.
The counsel for the parties concerned, who were present in the court, accepted the notice on the writ petition.
The advocate-general's writ petition sought a declaration that the Centre's notification dated February 5, 1999, under section 3(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act would not in any way affect the corruption cases against Jayalalitha, some of her erstwhile Cabinet colleagues, and certain bureaucrats which were transferred by the state government to the three special judges by a notification issued on April 30, 1997, under section 3(1) of the PCA.
Earlier, Nariman argued that the Centre's notification transferring the cases to three sessions judges was violative of the basic structure of the Constitution relating to the independence of the judiciary.
He said the Centre issued its notification without the high court's concurrence even though that court had upheld the state government's earlier notification.
UNI
The Tamil Nadu state page
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