You may call him the “nemesis” of Jayalalithaa. But the man, who made a strong case against the late former Tamil Nadu chief minister in the disproportionate assets case is simply elated with the Supreme Court upholding the trial court order, and shows little inclination to dwell on the political ramifications of the outcome.
B.V. Acharya | Image source: TV grab
Senior advocate and former Advocate General of Karnataka B.V. Acharya (82), the first and longest serving Special Public Prosecutor in the case, says "The Supreme Court order has proved how independent Indian judiciary is. Whatever be the power of the accused, justice will be done.”
The man, known for his integrity and acumen, has been an advocate general a record six times, and completes sixty years as a legal practitioner in 2017.
For eight years of the 21-year-long high-profile case, Acharya has led from the front as the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP).
The case came to an end on Tuesday with the apex court upholding the trial court verdict shattering AIADMK chief V.K.Sasikala's chief minister dreams.
READ: 21-year-old DA case comes to an end
While refusing to elaborate on the case till he gets a copy of the judgment, Acharya tells reporters that the verdict was expected. He also expresses happiness over the top court lauding trial court judge Justice Michael D'Cunha's order.
“I believe we effectively represented the case before the SC regarding the gross calculation mistakes committed by the High Court, which acquitted the accused,” says Acharya, who had advised the Karnataka government to file an appeal against the acquittal, citing that Jayalalithaa’s total disproportionate assets work out to Rs 16.34 crore (76 per cent of known income) and not Rs 2.82 crore (8.12 per cent), as stated by the HC in its judgment.
Recalling his journey as the SPP, he says “I have argued the case both in the trial court and the apex court, but made only written submissions before the High Court as I did not get an opportunity to present the case in person. I am not surprised by the SC judgment. The Karnataka High Court verdict was faulty because of the terrible mathematical mistakes it had committed. If HC had not committed these calculation mistakes, it would have upheld the order of the trial court which had convicted the accused and also sentenced them.”
Acharya was the first SPP in the case after it was shifted to Karnataka High Court in November 2003 to ensure fair trial. The case was filed by BJP leader Subaramanian Swamy in 1996.
Appointed as SPP in February 2005, Acharya relentlessly worked on the case for seven years before he resigned in February 2012, citing “ inability to continue owing to pressure from the BJP over holding two posts.” He had been appointed Advocate General of Karnataka for the fifth time in August 2011 by then BJP government under Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda.
Acharya says despite several threats and inducements during the trial, he did not yield. “I have mentioned all that in my autobiography and don't wish to recall them now.”
In his autobiography, All from Memory (released in November 2014), Acharya has recalled vividly the circumstances under which he resigned as the SPP. "It appears BJP high command, on the pretext that I was holding two posts (AG and SPP), directed the state government to pursue me to quit as SPP. When consistent pressure was exerted on me in this regard, I decided to quit as Advocate General of the state," he says in his book. He also stats that even after he quit as AG, efforts continued to remove him as the SPP, and a private complaint filed before the Lokayukta special court was part of it.
On February 3, 2013, G. Bhavani Singh was appointed as SPP in the case as Acharya resigned citing mental agony over a Lokayukta order directing a probe against him. A private complaint was filed against Acharya in the High Court alleging irregularities in his tenure as the chairman of the council of trustees of BMS engineering college was quashed. The court ruled that Right to Reputation is a fundamental right granted under Article 21 of the Constitution and Acharya’s reputation had been harmed by the complaint.
On September 27, 2014, special court judge Justice John Michael D'Cunha held Jayalalithaa and three others guilty of corruption and awarded four years' jail term and imposed a penalty of Rs 100 crore on Jayalalithaa and Rs 10 crore each on three others. The four accused were jailed in Parappana Agrahara jail in Bengaluru till SC granted bail to Jayalalitha on October 17, 2014.
If the AIADMK cadres shuddered at the mention of his name, it was his integrity and no-nonsense attitude and, of course, the meticulousness that ultimately resulted in the conviction and imprisonment of one of India's most powerful leaders and a sitting chief minister. Jayalalithaa had to spend 21 days in jail.
Eventually, the Supreme Court annulled Singh's appointment as "bad in law" on April 27, 2015, and Acharya was reinstated as the SPP at a crucial stage of the case. On April 28, 2016, Acharya was again appointed as SPP in the DA case by the Karnataka government. Acharya had recalled how the offer came to him on April 27, and he was expected to make written submissions in less than half day to be submitted to the court.
His legal strategy is credited for speeding up the trial.
On May 11, 2015, Justice C.R. Kumaraswamy of the Karnataka High Court acquitted Jayalalithaa and others in the DA case and also set aside the trial court order regarding confiscation of their movable and immovable assets, paving way for Jayalalithaa's reinstatement as the CM of Tamil Nadu. But Acharya ensured the Karnataka government filed an appeal before the SC against the acquittal. With the SC upholding the trail court order Acharya has had the last laugh.
“The accused in this case are very rich and powerful, they have engaged all top advocates to appear for them. So, they had explored all the escape routes. But luckily, SC has now closed all these escape routes and set a strong precedence to curb corrupt officers and politicians from going scot-free,” said Acharya.
