Tansi case deferred again

CHENNAI, JUNE 3: A special judge on Thursday adjourned proceedings in the Tamil Nadu Small Industries Corporation TANSI case to June 8,...

CHENNAI, JUNE 3: A special judge on Thursday adjourned proceedings in the Tamil Nadu Small Industries Corporation TANSI case to June 8, accepting a defence counsel8217;s plea for the adjournment on the ground that the judge8217;s order directing Mohammad Asif, an accused in the case, to be examined by a panel of government doctors, had been challenged in the Madras High Court.

Asif8217;s condition had led to three postponements in framing of charges against the accused in the case, in which AIADMK leader Jayalalitha is the main accused. Framing of charges was first fixed for May 25, then May 28 and May 31.

On May 31, Judge P Anbazhagan had written to the dean of the government general hospital requesting him to constitute a panel of doctors, including one from the railway hospital here, to examine Asif, a former AIADMK minister, who was stated to be suffering from a heart ailment.

Others arraigned in the case are Jayalalitha8217;s close friend Sasikala Natarajan, former managing director of the state-owned TANSI, TSrinivasan, a Deputy Collector of Stamps S Nagarajan and a former secretary in Jayalalitha8217;s office when she was chief minister, Karpoorasundara Pandian.

The case relates to purchase of land and buildings of TANSI, by Jaya Publications8217; a firm in which the AIADMK leader and Sasikala were partners, far below the then prevailing rate and evasion of stamp duty and registration charges.

As soon as the special court commenced its sitting for the day, defence counsel Jothi pleaded with the judge to adjourn proceedings in the case till June 8 as Justice E Padmanabhan of the Madras High Court had posted the writ petition filed by him to June 7.

Paying no heed to public prosecutor G Krishmurthy8217;s objection to the request for adjournment, Jothi contended that Justice Padmanabhan had remarked: 8220;The trial judge is an experienced senior judge and he knows what to do and the writ petition will not become infructuous.8221;

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Jothi said that in reply to his submission that if the trial court acted on the panel8217;s medicalreport before June 7 his petition would become infructuous, the judge had held that the report could also be in his Asif8217;s favour.

Special Judge Anbazhagan after hearing defence counsel8217;s submissions asked him to put it down in writing. However, at the insistence of the public prosecutor, the defence counsel was directed to give his submissions in an affidavit.