JOIN USThe Supreme Court on Tuesday gave two weeks’ to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha to respond to the Karnataka government’s contention that the special judge of the Bangalore court, who had heard the disproportionate assets case against her, was not willing to continue in the post following his retirement on September 30.
A Bench of Justices B S Chauhan and S A Bobde allowed a plea made by senior advocate Shekhar Naphade on her behalf after it was pointed out that the State government had filed its affidavit in the case. Jayalalitha had approached the court seeking direction to quash the appointment of G B Mudigoudar in place of retired judge M S Balakrishna to hear the 17-year-old case against her.
A State government counsel submitted that Balakrishna has given in writing that he does not wish to continue to preside over the court, so nothing survives in the matter.
Naphade, however, sought time to file a detailed response to the State government’s affidavit.
In her petition, Jayalalitha had contended that the State government did not take into account the apex court’s September 30 order asking the Karnataka High Court to consider on administrative side, in order to conclude the trial expeditiously, the judge could be granted extension and given contractual appointment.