Final hearings in assets case adjourned to February 23

The Arunachal Pradesh case, posted for February 1, may spill over to following days.

CHENNAI : 05/06/2013 : Chief Minister and AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa interacting with people who joined the AIADMK from other parties, in Chennai on Wednesday. Photo : M_Vedhan.

The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned to February 23 the final hearings in the appeals filed against the acquittal of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case.

A Bench of Justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Amitava Roy had originally scheduled to hear the appeals from February 2 onwards.

In a mentioning, the Chief Minister’s lawyer and senior advocate L. Nageshwar Rao urged the Bench to postpone the appeal hearing as Justice Ghose would be part of a Constitution Bench hearing the Arunachal Pradesh political crisis, which has led to the imposition of President’s rule in the border State.

The Arunachal Pradesh case is posted for February 1, but would in all likelihood spill over to following days and impair the hearing in the assets case.

Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, arguing for the State of Karnataka which has filed the main appeal against the acquittal by the High Court, agreed with Mr. Rao’s reasoning and suggested February 23.

Following consensus on both sides, the Bench posted the matter to that day.