Supreme Court: No fresh hearing in Jayalalithaa’s case, judgment on Monday

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“We do not want to delay this matter any further. The appointment of SPP, prima facie, appears to be irregular and bad in law. But this does not warrant a fresh hearing. We may not allow a de novo (new) hearing,” said the bench.

Concluding the proceedings in little less than two days, the bench heard senior advocates Fali S Nariman on behalf of the AIADMK chief and T R Andhyarujina who represented DMK leader K Anbazhagan.

Anbazhagan had sought removal of special public prosecutor Bhavani Singh from the case, arguing Singh was appointed only for the trial and he could not hence appear in the high court during appeal. He asked for a fresh hearing on appeal.

However, a two-judge bench delivered a split verdict over the legality of the appeal and referred the matter to the Chief Justice of India for constituting a larger bench. The two judges failed to reconcile their views on whether appearance of Singh, who was appointed to conduct trial, was also authorised to argue in the appeal at the high court. While one judge said that prosecutor’s continuation had vitiated the appeal and it required to be heard afresh, the other judge accorded legal sanctity to the proceedings. Subsequently, the CJI had set up a three-judge bench to adjudge the issue.

The larger bench observed on Wednesday that a procedural irregularity may not warrant a fresh hearing of the case. It added that the high court will scan the evidence and fresh submissions made by DMK leader Anbazaghan and only then write the verdict.