New Delhi:
One of the three Supreme Court judges handling an appeal by J Jayalalithaa has recused himself from the case.
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has asked the Supreme Court to declare that she need not attend hearing scheduled for November 8 in a Bangalore court. The Supreme Court will now hear her petition tomorrow.
Jayalalithaa appeared in that court on two consecutive days at Bangalore's Central Prison last month. She has been accused of corruption and of misusing her earlier term in office from 1991-96 to accumulate assets worth crores.
Jayalalithaa had been directed by the Supreme Court to attend last month's hearings. She answered nearly 600 questions put to her by the judge. She says that any future questions can be answered in writing. She has used the fact that there was phenomenal security for her visit to Bangalore to bolster her petition - she says she doesn't want to inconvenience the people of Bangalore again. Her 60-km route from the HAL airport to court was sanitized. Around 1500 policemen were posted there. National Security Guard commandos had escorted her as well.