Bangalore:
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa resumed her deposition before a special trial court in Bangalore for the third time in connection with the Rs 66 crore disproportionate assets case against her.
Ms Jayalalithaa landed at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited airport and immediately proceeded to the special court near Parapparana Agra Central Jail premises on the city's outskirts. The Chief Minister was accompanied by her close friend Sasikala Natarajan and her adopted son V Sudhakaran, the other accused in the 15-year-old case.
The AIADMK chief had attended two days of court hearings in the same court last month. Like then, a security blanket has been thrown over the city for the VIP visit. Ms Jayalalithaa enjoys Z category security.
A hearing was held on November 8 too, but Ms Jayalalithaa had appealed in the Supreme Court that she be excused from the hearing; she said she did not want to inconvenience the people of Bangalore and so had sought permission to answer questions in writing.
The top court had turned down her appeal not to appear in person but said she should be given a date of her choice. Her two appearances on October 20 and 21 too came after the Supreme Court over-ruled her concerns about security in Bangalore.
Karnataka said it would provide her with the best security, and it did. There were 1,500 policemen posted, 500 of them Tamil Nadu cops making up the innermost cordon around their CM. Then there were National Security Guard (NSG) commandos. A convoy of 20 cars escorted the Chief Minister along a 60-km route from the HAL airport to Bangalore's Central Prison, opposite which the trial court hearing the case sits.
The trial court had framed 1,339 questions for Ms Jayalalithaa. She had replied to 567 questions on her two appearances before the court in October. When it became clear on Thursday, October 20, that the deposition would spill over into the next day, Ms Jayalalithaa had refused to stay the night in Bangalore, preferring to fly back home in her special aircraft to Chennai and return again the next morning. The Chief Minister still has 768 questions.
The case being heard in Bangalore dates back to 1996 and accuses her of abusing her earlier term in office from 1991-96 to collect wealth that cannot be accounted for. The case was moved from Chennai to Bangalore in 2003 at the request of the DMK, the main Opposition party in Tamil Nadu. It had alleged that a free and fair trial would not be possible in the Chief Minister's home state.
(With PTI inputs)
Ms Jayalalithaa landed at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited airport and immediately proceeded to the special court near Parapparana Agra Central Jail premises on the city's outskirts. The Chief Minister was accompanied by her close friend Sasikala Natarajan and her adopted son V Sudhakaran, the other accused in the 15-year-old case.
The AIADMK chief had attended two days of court hearings in the same court last month. Like then, a security blanket has been thrown over the city for the VIP visit. Ms Jayalalithaa enjoys Z category security.
A hearing was held on November 8 too, but Ms Jayalalithaa had appealed in the Supreme Court that she be excused from the hearing; she said she did not want to inconvenience the people of Bangalore and so had sought permission to answer questions in writing.
The top court had turned down her appeal not to appear in person but said she should be given a date of her choice. Her two appearances on October 20 and 21 too came after the Supreme Court over-ruled her concerns about security in Bangalore.
Karnataka said it would provide her with the best security, and it did. There were 1,500 policemen posted, 500 of them Tamil Nadu cops making up the innermost cordon around their CM. Then there were National Security Guard (NSG) commandos. A convoy of 20 cars escorted the Chief Minister along a 60-km route from the HAL airport to Bangalore's Central Prison, opposite which the trial court hearing the case sits.
The trial court had framed 1,339 questions for Ms Jayalalithaa. She had replied to 567 questions on her two appearances before the court in October. When it became clear on Thursday, October 20, that the deposition would spill over into the next day, Ms Jayalalithaa had refused to stay the night in Bangalore, preferring to fly back home in her special aircraft to Chennai and return again the next morning. The Chief Minister still has 768 questions.
The case being heard in Bangalore dates back to 1996 and accuses her of abusing her earlier term in office from 1991-96 to collect wealth that cannot be accounted for. The case was moved from Chennai to Bangalore in 2003 at the request of the DMK, the main Opposition party in Tamil Nadu. It had alleged that a free and fair trial would not be possible in the Chief Minister's home state.
(With PTI inputs)
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