SC Brings Curtain Down On The Last Pending Case Against Jayalalithaa

Although the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J.Jayalalithaa passed away last year, she remained as a respondent in a case pending before the Supreme Court since 2013.The case, A.K.S.Vijayan v Chief Election Commissioner and Others, [Special Leave Petition [c] 39704-39705/2013] came up for hearing before the bench of the Chief Justice of India, J.S.Khehar and Justice D.Y Chandrachud on Monday, before it was disposed of as infructuous.The prayer in the SLP was to initiate appropriate action by launching prosecution against her, who was alleged to have committed offences under Section 177 of the Indian Penal Code. The bench took note of her passing away, as affirmed by the petitioner’s counsel through a letter, stating that the petition has, therefore, been rendered infructuous.BACKGROUNDIn 2001 Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa had filed four nominations from four constituencies, namely, Andipatti, Krishnagiri, Bhuvanagiri and Pudukottai. All the four nominations were rejected as she had been disqualified by the Supreme Court from contesting polls at that time following conviction in the TANSI land deal case.In 2007, the Madras High Court had held that her declaration in Bhuvanagiri and Pudukottai constituencies that she had not been nominated from more than two seats was false to her own knowledge and amounted to violation of Section 33(7)(b) of the Representation of People Act, which bars contest from more than two seats.Although she was not a respondent in the case before the High Court, she assailed the judgment before the Supreme Court in 2012 on the ground that the petitioner before the High Court, C.Kuppuswamy, then a Member of Parliament from DMK, had no locus standi.In 2012, the Supreme Court set aside the Madras High Court judgment and remanded it to the High Court for fresh disposal in accordance with law.When Kuppuswamy died, another DMK MP, A.K.S.Vijayan impleaded himself in the case before the High Court. But on April 25, 2013, the High Court dismissed Vijayan’s petition, and held that the case filed by Kuppusamy stood abated following his death.Vijayan, who appealed against the High Court’s decision in the Supreme Court through the SLP, argued that just because a petitioner is dead the crime against which the case was filed would not vanish. He also relied on Supreme Court decisions which held that a public interest litigation would not abate because of petitioner’s death.On August 14, 2015 when the case came up for hearing before the then Chief Justice H.L.Dattu, and Justices Arun Mishra and Amitava Roy, Jayalalithaa did not wish to file any counter affidavit.

SC Brings Curtain Down On The Last Pending Case Against Jayalalithaa

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