The Karnataka government would soon seek a reimbursement of Rs 12.4 crore from the Tamil Nadu government for handling the Disproportionate Assets case against late chief minister J.Jayalalithaa, AIADMK chief V.K.Sasikala and two others. The case was tried in a special court in Bengaluru and then in the Karnataka High Court and later in the Supreme Court.
The case was transferred to the Prappana Aghrahara special court in Bengaluru by the Supreme Court in 2003 as it felt that a fair trial might not take place if the case was conducted in Tamil Nadu courts. The expenses include the setting up of a court hall, payment of translators, salaries of the judges and the lawyers fees.
While Rs 5 crore is the cost of litigation, other expenditures include maintaining law and order, providing security to Jayalalithaa when she came in 2014 and when she was arrested, security to Sasikala when she was arrested and taken to jail on Wednesday and other logistics.
In June 2015, after Jayalalithaa was convicted by the trial court, the Karnataka government had asked for reimbursement of Rs 5 crore. However, the amount was not settled by the Tamil Nadu government and the cost has escalated to Rs12.4 crores as of now, according to sources.
“We have spent a huge amount and we will soon write to the TN government to reimburse the amount. Once the cost is calculated, we will write to the chief secretary of Tamil Nadu for reimbursement,” Karnataka Law Minister T.B. Jayachandra said.
