Mangalore: Judge Michael D’Cunha who delivered the verdict and held Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa guilty of amassing wealth disproportionate to known sources of her income under sections 109 and 120 (b) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, is the fifth presiding officer to deal with the case, which has reached its climax after surviving many twists and turns. It is a far reaching decision as it can alter the course of TN Politics, with the DMK waiting to bounce back and the BJP waiting in the wings to make a dent.
Mr. D’Cunha took over after his predecessor, M. S. Balakrishna declined an extension of service to complete the trial as he had almost completed it at the time of his retirement. Mr. D’Cunha, Registrar (Vigilance) in the High Court was appointed in October 2013 and he heard the final arguments afresh. While hearing the arguments, he gave an indication of his stern approach. He critiqued the defense for what he called attempts at protracting the trial and suppressing facts from the court.
Mr. D’Cunha, hailing from Kaikamba, Mangalore had started practice as a lawyer in in 1985 and was selected as district judge in 2002. He served in Dharwad, Bellary and Bangalore in various positions including as Secretary to the Chief Justice.
The trail of the trial
AS Pachhapure was the first judge to hear the case after it was transferred to Bangalore by the Supreme Court in November 2003. The Supreme Court stayed the proceedings in August 2005 after he passed an order clubbing two wealth cases into one case of disproportionate asses. He was elevated as a judge of the Karnataka High Court in July 2007.Later AT Muoli took charge but no effective proceedings were held in his tenure due to the SC’s stay order. After his retirement, BM Mallikarjunaiah was appointed. Thereafter the trial made substantial progress. Re-examination of some witnesses by the prosecution and the recording of Ms Jayalalithaa’s statement were held during his tenure. M. S. Balakrishna took over in November 2013 and completed the recording of statements of three other accused before retiring,
The case was prosecuted by special Public Prosecutors B. V. Acharya G. Bhavani Singh, while the defense was led by B. Kumar, senior advocate.
