Jayalalithaa's jewels to be handed over to TN govt in first week of March, says Karnataka court
Bengaluru (PTI): A special court here has said 27 kg of gold and diamond jewelry - part of the material evidence in the disproportionate assets case against former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister late J Jayalalithaa and others - would be handed over to the neighbouring state's government on March 6 and 7, paving the way for unlocking value of the assets to mobilise the Rs 100 crore fine imposed on her. While 20 kg could be sold or auctioned, the remaining was exempted by the Court on Monday considering the fact that the late Jayalalithaa inherited them from her mother.
Judge H A Mohan, presiding over the XXXII Additional City Civil & Sessions court, had last month directed the transfer of valuables seized from Jayalalithaa to the Tamil Nadu government.
The TN Government will then take necessary action on the disposal of these gold and diamond jewelery, it had said.
The trial was held in Karnataka on the direction of the Supreme Court and therefore all material evidence is in the Karnataka treasury now under the custody of the court.
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The court had earlier held that the kin of Jayalalithaa were not entitled for the properties which are confiscated by the State. The Special CBI Court had thus rejected the petition filed by J Deepa and J Deepak, the niece and nephew of Jayalalithaa, respectively.
Ordering the transfer of the jewels to the Tamil Nadu Government, the Special Court judge had said, "Instead of auctioning the jewels, it is better to transfer the same to Tamil Nadu by handing over the same through the Department of Home, State of Tamil Nadu."
The Court had then issued the direction that the Tamil Nadu Home Department to authorise "competent persons preferably in the rank of Secretary along with police to come and collect the jewels."
In the same order, the Special Court had ordered the payment of Rs five crore to Karnataka for the expenses of the trial conducted in the State. The payment will be made from a fixed deposit in an account related to Jayalalithaa in the State Bank of India branch in Chennai.
The disproportionate assets trial against Jayalalithaa, her former close aide V Sasikala, V N Sudhakaran, who is the disowned foster son of Jayalalithaa, and Sasikala's sister-in-law J Ilavarasi was conducted by the Special Court in Bengaluru, which convicted them nearly ten years ago.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
