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N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras
Principal Sessions Judge P S Ashok Kumar came down heavily on the prosecution and Tamil Nadu Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption for failing to serve summons on former chief minister and ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagm chief J Jayalalithaa in the multi-million London hotel case.
It was the third time in the past four months that public prosecutor Krishnamurthy and investigating officer Subba Rao had expressed their inability to serve the summons seeking Jayalalithaa's appearance in the court.
"Do you possess a passport in the first place? Did you visit the United Kingdom and Malaysia to investigate the case? Or were you just going around the Marina Beach (in Madras) before filing the charge sheet," the judge asked.
Indications are that the court may ask the Central Bureau of Investigation to take over the case, as the state police has been unable to serve even summons to Jayalalithaa, the prime accused.
The case involves the purchase and subsequent sale of a hotel property in UK by Jayalalithaa during her first term as the chief minister, without notifying the Centre, and without obtaining foreign exchange clearances from the Reserve Bank of India.
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