The Supreme Court on Tuesday admitted the CBI’s petition seeking restoration of “gift” remittance case against Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa and setting aside the Madras high court verdict quashing the trial court proceedings in the 15-year-old case. But the SC refused to grant interim stay on the HC verdict of September 30 last year.
A bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and S.S. Nijjar, while admitting the CBI’s special leave petition, issued notice to Jayalalithaa seeking her reply affidavit.
The HC had quashed the proceedings in the trial court against her in the case registered in 1996 related to alleged remittance of `2 crore in 89 bank drafts drawn on different banks in Tamil Nadu by 57 persons as “birth day gift” in 1992 when she was the CM in her earlier tenure. Besides, the FIR referred to receiving of gift remittance of `15 lakh in cash the same year and $ 3 lakh through a bank draft issued by Bankers Trust Company in New York in 1991.
According to the CBI’s petition, all these remittances were without “consideration” of any official or business transactions and amounted to violation of the provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act. The entire money was deposited in her saving bank account No-23832 with Canara Bank, Mylapore.