Karnataka High Court upholds confiscation of Jayalalithaa's assets
Bengaluru, Jan 13: The Karnataka High Court has dismissed on Monday an appeal by J Deepak and J Deepa, the legal heirs of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, seeking the release of her assets confiscated in a 2004 disproportionate assets case.
Jayalalithaa was convicted by a special court in 2014 for amassing wealth disproportionate to her known sources of income during her tenure from 1991 to 1996. Following her conviction, her properties were confiscated by the authorities.
Although she was acquitted by the Karnataka High Court in 2015, then congress government in Karnataka appealed against it in supreme court. Case against Jayalalithaa was abated due to her demise in 2016. While convicting late CM's close aide V K Sasikala, and her two relatives V N Sudhakaran and Elavarasi in 2017, Supreme Court upheld the confiscation of Jayalalithaa's assets.
Deepak and Deepa, recognized as Jayalalithaa's legal heirs by the Madras High Court in 2020, filed an appeal seeking the release of her confiscated assets, arguing that since the proceedings against her were terminated upon her death, she should not be considered a convict, and her properties should be restored to them.
Justice V Srishananda upheld the trial court's July 12, 2023, order rejecting their request, stating that the confiscation order remains valid as upheld by the Supreme Court.
The court noted the absence of detailed evidence indicating which assets were acquired before the investigation period and clarified that any claims regarding such assets must be supported by proper proof and presented before the trial court.
In a concluding remark, the judge encouraged the legal heirs to consider establishing a foundation in Jayalalithaa's name to serve the poor, suggesting that engaging in charitable work would bring peace to the late leader's soul.
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Bondi Beach shooting suspect conducted firearms training with his father, Australian police say
Melbourne (AP): A man accused of killing 15 people at Sydney's Bondi Beach conducted firearms training in an area of New South Wales state outside of Sydney with his father, Australian police documents released on Monday allege.
The men recorded a video about their justification for the meticulously planned attack, according to a police statement of facts that was made public following Naveed Akram's video court appearance Monday from a Sydney hospital where he has been treated for an abdominal injury.
Officers wounded Akram at the scene of the Dec. 14 shooting and killed his father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram.
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The New South Wales state government confirmed Naveed Akram was transferred on Monday from a hospital to a prison. Neither facility was identified by authorities.
The statement alleges the 24-year-old and his father began their attack by throwing four improvised explosive devices toward a crowd celebrating an annual Jewish event at Bondi Beach, but the devices failed to explode.
Police described the devices as three aluminium pipe bombs and a tennis ball bomb containing an explosive, black powder and steel ball bearings. None detonated, but police described them as “viable” IEDs.
Authorities have charged Akram with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of causing harm with intent to murder in relation to the wounded survivors and one count of committing a terrorist act.
The antisemitic attack at the start of the eight-day Hanukkah celebration was Australia's worst mass shooting since a lone gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania state in 1996.
The New South Wales government introduced draft laws to Parliament on Monday that Premier Chris Minns said would become the toughest in Australia.
The new restrictions would include making Australian citizenship a condition of qualifying for a firearms license. That would have excluded Sajid Akram, who was an Indian citizen with a permanent resident visa.
Sajid Akram also legally owned six rifles and shotguns. A new legal limit for recreational shooters would be a maximum of four guns.
Police said a video found on Naveed Akram's phone shows him with his father "reciting their political and religious views and appear to summarise their justification for the Bondi terrorist attack.”
The men are seen in the video “condemning the acts of Zionists” while they also “adhere to a religiously motivated ideology linked to the Islamic State,” police said.
Video shot in October shows them “firing shotguns and moving in a tactical manner” on grassland surrounded by trees, police said.
“There is evidence that the Accused and his father meticulously planned this terrorist attack for many months,” police allege.
