They were examined in the trial in the disproportionate asset case against 'amma'
They were examined in the trial in the disproportionate asset case against 'amma'Five witnesses were examined in the trial in the disproportionate asset case against former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha that resumed after the winter vacation of the court yesterday. The five are Veerabahu, an executive engineer with the Public Works Department (PWD) in Tamil Nadu, Subbaiah, also an engineer with PWD, Krishnamurthy, Rajendran, a videographer and Parthasarathy, a photographer. All of them were re-examined.
Money matters: Former CM Jayalalitha. File picThe witnesses maintained that their statements during the chief (first) examination were correct, but however resiled from those made during cross-examination. Defence counsel Navaneetha Krishnan said the witnesses were being 'tutored' and were doing so under police pressure. When trial began, Krishnan moved an application before Special Court Judge B M Mallikarjunaiah, stating that the 161 statements of Veerabahu was not there on the records and hence he could not be recalled for re-examination.
The court rejected the application and re-examined Veerabahu. Krishnan subsequently moved two applicationsu00a0-- the first seeking appointment of an interpreter to rectify mistakes in recorded statements of witnesses as per the SC order and the second seeking corrections in the translated version of evidence before examining the said witnesses.
Special public prosecutor B V Acharya opposed both, saying a translator had already been appointed by the government to translate statements of witnesses to English from Tamil. Both applications were rejected.
The trial will continue tomorrow when five other witnesses who have been recalled will be re-examined. The wealth case against Jayalalithaa, which was heard by a Chennai court, had been transferred to Bangalore by the Supreme Court.
