Assets case: Court revises order; exempts Jaya from appearing

A special court in Bangalore on Thursday which directed Jayalalithaa and three other accused to appear before it on April 5 in the disproportionate assets case, later revised its order to exempt the Tamil Nadu chief minister from appearing due to security reasons.

Besides Jayalalithaa, Special Court Judge John Michael Cunha directed her close confidante Sasikala Natarajan, Sasikala's nephew Sudhakaran and her sister-in-law Ilavarasi to appear before him.

However, the judge revised his earlier order and granted exemption from appearance to Jayalalithaa after the registry of Karnataka high court stated that it would not be possible to provide security to her at a short notice.

Cunha said she could be summoned at a later date. In her first appearance on October 20, 2011 after the case was shifted to Bangalore, Jayalalithaa had deposed before the special court in a closed door hearing held in a court premises in the central prison complex amid heavy security.

The disproportionate case was shifted here in 2003 following a Supreme Court directive on a petition by the Dravida Munetra Kazhagam which contended that a fair trial was not possible in Chennai during her tenure as chief minister then.