Court officer to serve summons on Jayalalithaa

By A. Subramani

CHENNAI, OCT. 4. The Principal Sessions Judge, Mr. S. Ashok Kumar, today deputed a junior court officer to serve summons on the former Chief Minister, Ms. Jayalalithaa, after castigating the police for exhibiting an `unwillingness' to do so on three occasions.

``The attitude of the investigating officer not serving the three summonses over a period of nearly six months shows his unwillingness. The accused happened to be the Chief Minister till recently and the second accused is an MP of the ruling party,'' Mr. Ashok Kumar observed.

(The summonses pertain to the `London Hotels case' in which Ms. Jayalalithaa and the AIADMK MP, Mr. T.T.V. Dinakaran, have been accused of funnelling over Rs. 43 crores out of the country in ways other than regular banking channels). Three summonses served on her, dated June 12, September 12 and today, were returned unserved by the DVAC on flimsy grounds, the judge noted.

Convinced that the police were dragging the proceedings, Mr. Ashok Kumar said, ``there is no option except to serve the summonses on the accused through Mr. Kalamegam, head clerk of the court''. He directed the inspector of B-4 police station (High Court premises) to give adequate protection to Mr. Kalamegam.

The new summons requires Ms. Jayalalithaa to appear in the court on November 5. Till this date, the investigating officer had not produced even a scrap of paper on further investigation conducted by him, the PSJ pointed out. The summons for today's appearance had been returned with an endorsement that the accused was busy with the civic election, the judge added.

``It is for the accused to file an application before this court about the inability to appear due to unavoidable circumstances or for any other reason. Returning the summons on the ground that the accused is busy with election work is not the business of the investigating officer'', Mr. Ashok Kumar said.

It is a case in which the accused hatched a criminal conspiracy, in pursuance of which they purchased hotels in the United Kingdom and made investments which were disproportionate to known sources of their income, the Judge maintained.

Earlier in the day, during arguments, Mr. Ashok Kumar wondered whether the investigating agency would have touched even the Marina Beach in its effort at unearthing funds invested in foreign countries.

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Section  : Southern States
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