Special courts order for Jaya trials challenged in a PIL

CHENNAI, May 12: The Madras High Court has been moved to declare as unconstitutional GO No 628 Home (Courts II) dated April 30, 1997, under which three special courts have been constituted to conduct the corruption cases against former chief minister J Jayalalitha, her erstwhile cabinet colleagues, IAS officers and other benamis.

In his public interest litigation, N P Sugindran of Nerkunram, Chennai, submitted that the GO violated the constitutional provisions laid down in the Preamble and Articles 14, 15, 16 and 21 of the Constitution, as, it did not stress to achieve any definite objective of public interest. It had also not been passed to combat any increasing tempo of special types of regional crimes or any definite sophisticated nature of crimes. The intention was conduct of exclusive trial of certain cases and thereby to harass and victimise only a section of persons.

The object of the GO was not in consonance with the objects and reasons of either the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) or the Constitution of India or the Code of Criminal Procedure. The intention was not even to maintain public order or public peace or to preserve public safety. It amounted to colourable exercise of power. The classification of various FIRs and crime numbers was discriminatory.

The GO had been passed for the exclusive trial of certain cases. But no special procedure was prescribed and no period of duration to complete the trial had been stipulated.