Bangalore: AIADMK Chief and former Tamil Nadu chief minister has to wait for another week, before her bail plea would be heard by a vacation bench of the Karnataka High Court here. The court on Wednesday deferred the hearing on her bail petition to October 7.
The 66 years old former actress turned politician had appealed for bail on Tuesday, and the matter was to be heard today. But following a plea by the prosecution that they did not have time to prepare a counter argument, the hearing has been adjourned to next week.
The High Court is on Dasara holidays from 29 September to 6 October and the petition will be taken up on the 7 October by a normal bench.
The High Court had considered to hear her plea, after her lawyers had appealed that her case should be treated as an exception as the continued incarceration was causing law and order problems in Tamil Nadu. They also argued that the VVIP politician’s health was unstable.
Tamil film workers fast
Film stars and industry workers fasted in show of support to their ‘beloved’ leader yesterday. Some 3,000 directors, actors, producers and others takook part in the hunger strike. Theaters across Tamil Nadu were closed, and no filming took place, in a state that eats and sleeps on movies.
“We decided not to have any film shootings, editing, dubbing or movie screenings across Tamil Nadu from 9.00am to 5.00pm today,” said Diamond Babu, a public relations officer in the Tamil-language film industry.
“We still consider her as chief minister. We only wish & pray that she (Jayalalithaa) gets bail, I wish she’s shifted back to Tamil Nadu. The punishment we feel is harsh, it is vindictive,” leading south Indian actor R. Sarathkumar told the media.
Jayalalithaa was charged in 1997, when police seized assets including 28kg of gold, 750 pairs of shoes and more than 10,000 saris in a raid on her home in Chennai.
Prosecutors said her assets, which reportedly included two 404-hectare (1,000-acre) estates in the lush tropical state she ran, were vastly disproportionate to her earnings during her first term as chief minister.
