From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Apr 21: In a serious setback to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa and her recently reconciled political aide Sasikala Natarajan in the wealth case, a Special Court has rejected their applications seeking perusal of unmarked documents pertaining to the case.

Justice B M Mallikarjunaiah, who has been hearing the case, rejected the applications filed by Jayalalithaa’s political aide on the ground that they were not maintainable and ordered that the presence of the accused in the case for recording their statements on April 23.

Expressing displeasure over the failure of co-accused in the case, Sasikala, Ilavarasi and V Sudhakaran, to appear in the Court, the judge observed that the accused had taken the case lightly and instructed them to be present on April 23 for further recording of their statements.

''This is not the way to cooperate with the law,” he said while granting them exemption from personal appearance for Saturday.

C Manishankhar, Counsel for Sasikala, had submitted that the accused had every right to peruse unmarked documents.

But former Karnataka Advocate General and Special Public Prosecutor B V Acharya argued that the applications were “not bonafide but filed with an oblique purpose of dragging on the proceedings.’’

Terming the applications as ''frivolous and vexatious,” Acharya argued that these were not maintainable under law or on the facts of the present case and contended that such abuse of law must not be condoned.

The court is currently recording the statements of Sasikala.

The case pertains to alleged accumulation of wealth by Jayalalithaa when she was Chief Minister during 1991-95, had been transferred to Bangalore by the Supreme Court.