One more article on the Arithmetic Error in Jaya's Judgement and it can prove a big headache for her if it is true
Math Muddle in Jaya Case
Math Muddle in Jaya Case | Swarajya
Arithmetic errors by the Karnataka HC could spell fresh trouble for Jaya.
It’s a mathematical conundrum, although not of a particularly complex nature. The Rs 58 crore disproportionate assets (DA) case, which former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalalithaa was acquitted of on Monday, could well come back to haunt her – thanks to a simple flaw in addition by Judge Kumaraswamy.
The DA case itself hinges on math. The question before the appellate court was whether Jayalalithaa, her confidante and co-accused Sasikala, Sudhakaran and Elavarasi had been in possession of wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income.
The court’s job was basically to calculate the entire income of the four accused and compare it with the wealth held by them. If a large amount was found to be unaccounted for, it would have meant conviction for the accused.
As per the Karnataka High court order copy dated May 11, 2015, Judge Kumaraswamy decided to consider loans taken by the four accused as income. He criticized the trial court for not considering loans as income and for bringing an erroneous guilty verdict as a result.
On page 852 of the order, the High Court lists a tabular column of all the loans taken by the four accused. The total in the column has the figure Rs 24,17,31,274 (Rs 24.17 crores).
But on addition of the indvidual loan amounts specified in the column, the actual amount comes to Rs 10,67,31,274 (Rs 10.67 crores). This is Rs 13,50,00,000 (Rs 13.5 crores) less than the total given in the order – an error in arithmetic.
Judge Kumaraswamy has then added these amounts to the other income accrued to the accused and arrived at a total figure of Rs 34,76,65,654 (Rs 34.76 crores).
Total assets calculated by the High Court are at Rs 37,59,02,466 (Rs 37.59 crores), meaning a gap of unexplained wealth to the tune of Rs 2,82,36,812 (Rs 2.82 crores). Dividing the unexplained wealth by the total income, the Karnataka High Court has arrived at a figure of 8.12% of unexplained wealth in proportion to the known income of the accused.
But if one takes the erroneous arithmetic into account, the total income portion reduces by Rs 13.5 crores i.e. now becomes Rs 21,26,65,654 (Rs 21.26 crores). The unexplained wealth shoots up to Rs 16,32,36,812 (Rs 16.32 crores). On dividing the unexplained wealth by the new total income, we now get the actual proportion of unexplained wealth to income – 76.75%.
In its verdict on May 11, the Karnataka High Court had said “The percentage of disproportionate assets is 8.12%. It is relatively small. In the instant case, the disproportionate asset is less than 10% and it is within permissible limit. Therefore, Accused are entitled for acquittal. When the principal Accused has been acquitted, the other Accused, who have played a lesser role are also entitled for acquittal.”
This actual figure of 76.75% is now well above the permissible limit of 10% as cited in the High Court order. And this could spell big trouble for Jaya.
“This changes everything in the case and goes to the root of the matter,” said A Saravanan, counsel for DMK General Secretary Anbazhagan, who has impleaded himself in the case. “The legal option before us is that we will have to approach the Supreme Court and seek a stay on the judgement. This is a high probability for us,” he said.
Jayalalithaa’s counsel B Kumar said he would get back if he had anything to say on this point and that he had no comment to make as of now.
Special Public Prosecutor for the Karnataka High Court BV Acharya said “We are looking into this issue.” He was non-committal on whether or not the Karnataka government would go on appeal in the apex court.
Sources within the prosecution team though point out that legal recourse is available under Section 362 of the Criminal Penal Code (CrPC). This section states that no court can alter or review its judgement or final order once signed, except to correct a clerical or arithmetic order.
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy who is the original complainant in Jayalalithaa’s disproportionate assets case, tweeted early today – “In my appeal to SC in JJ DA case, I will prove that the KHC judgement is a “tragedy of arithmetic errors”. JJ will have to resign again if CM.”
The 19-year-old DA case has been mired in controversies constantly for inordinate delays, removal of the public prosecutor just days before the High Court judgement and has also been criticized for being the first case in the country in which orders were given without a valid prosecution.
Tamil Nadu’s political parties are now watching closely to see whether Jayalalithaa would be undone thanks to a simple error in addition.