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In an unexpected move, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader and chief minister-designate of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa on Thursday withdrew her seven-year old-petition from the Supreme Court challenging the decision of then governor M Chenna Reddy to grant sanction for her prosecution in two corruption cases.
On the request of her counsel K K Venugopal, a five-judge Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice S P Bharucha, Justice R C Lahoti, Justice N Santosh Hegde, Justice Ruma Pal and Justice Arijit Pasayat allowed withdrawal of the petition, but kept open the legal questions raised in the petition.
The governor had given sanctions for prosecution of Jayalalithaa, when she was the chief minister, in TANSI land scam case and the coal import scam case.
She has been acquitted in both these cases.
Venugopal said that she was withdrawing the petition as the courts had acquitted her in the two cases.
He said that though an appeal against her acquittal in the TANSI case was pending in the Supreme Court, she would prefer to withdraw the appeal and raise the questions at appropriate proceedings.
Jayalalithaa had stated in her petition that the governor did not have the appropriate authority to grant sanction for prosecution of a chief minister.
She had also raised the question whether the governor, even if assumed that he had the authority to grant sanction, could do so without the aid and advice of the council of ministers.
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