DVAC dilemma in London Hotels case

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, OCT. 3. Copies of the chargesheet in the `London Hotels case' will be given to the former Chief Minister, Ms. Jayalalithaa, on Thursday, provided she appears before the Principal Sessions Judge, Mr. S. Ashok Kumar.

But sources said the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti- Corruption, which received the summons on September 12, was yet to serve it on Ms. Jayalalithaa.

The DVAC, which gave an undertaking to the court that the summons would be served on Ms. Jayalalithaa, is in an unenviable position. On the one hand, it is apparently reluctant to serve the summons and on the other it will have to answer Mr. Ashok Kumar if it fails to honour the commitment.

Moreover, this is the third summons, and only one the DVAC obtained after furnishing a specific assurance. Two earlier summonses, issued on June 12 and September 12, 2001, were returned unserved.

This morning, counsel for the AIADMK MP, Mr. T.T.V. Dinakaran, who is a co-accused, sought to submit a petition to Mr. Ashok Kumar praying for `recall' of the summons against him. However, the judge did not accept the petition.

Ms. Jayalalithaa has been charged with illegally funnelling Rs. 43.98 crores to foreign countries ``through other than regular banking channels'' to buy two hotels in the United Kingdom in 1994.

She has been accused of purchasing the Hops Croft Holt Hotel at Steeple Astine, U.K. in the name of the Godfrey Resources Corporation and Slaley Hall Estate, with the help of Mr. Dinakaran. The DVAC has also alleged that the hotels were sold off in 1998 for about Rs. 121.53 crores.

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