The verdict of the three-judge Supreme Court Bench that the appointment of Bhavani Singh as Special Public Prosecutor on appeals filed by J Jayalalitha, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, and three of her associates in the disproportionate assets case is non est, is a lesson to those who think they can use their power to bend rules and the law and get away with it all the time. When the case was transferred from Tamil Nadu to Karnataka, senior advocate BV Acharya was appointed as Special Public Prosecutor to conduct the case in a Special Court in Bangalore by the Karnataka government. Acharya was harassed so much by the accused persons that he resigned and Bhavani Singh was appointed in exercise of powers conferred by Section 24(8) of CrPC and Rule 30 of the Karnataka Law Officers (Appointment and Conditions of Service) Rules. Because of his conduct during the hearing and on a writ petition challenging the appointment by the appellant, the Karnataka government revoked Bhavani Singh&’s appointment and restrained him from continuing as public prosecutor. Jayalalitha moved the Supreme Court and got the impugned order removing Bhavani Singh annulled. It was tantamount to allowing the accused to choose their prosecutors. The trial continued and in spite of the efforts of Bhavani Singh, the Special Court convicted all four accused on 27 September last year. Aggrieved by the judgment of conviction and order of sentence, Jayalalitha and co-accused preferred criminal appeal in the Karnataka High Court.

The Court of the Chief Justice of India while granting bail to the accused ordered the Karnataka High Court to dispose of the appeal within three months. An emboldened Jayalalitha caused the Principal Secretary to the Tamil Nadu government to pass an order requesting the State Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption to engage Bhavani Singh as Special Public Prosecutor in the Karnataka High Court in her appeal. As Karnataka was not arrayed as a party in the appeal, it did not appoint any public prosecutor. The appellant&’s plea to Karnataka, the only legal entity that could appoint a Special Prosecutor, went unheeded. Ultimately, the three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court led by Justice Deepak Misra struck down the appointment of Bhavani Singh as bad in law. The court directed the appellant as well as Karnataka to file written submissions and the Appellate Judge to disregard Bhavani Singh&’s depositions and submissions. Karnataka brought back Acharya  to  make  its  submissions  to  the  Appellate Judge. By ruling out a de novo hearing in the High Court, the Bench of Justice Misra has allayed Jayalalitha&’s fear of any delay in the day of judgment.