New Delhi, Nov 24: The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the Madras High Court order acquitting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in the Tansi land scam case.
A Bench comprising Justice S Rajendra Babu and Justice PV Reddi said although there is a strong suspicion of involvement of Jayalalithaa in sale of Tansi land belonging to the government to Jaya publications, there is no legal evidence to prove her guilt. Stating that high probity in public office was essential for good governance, Justice Babu, writing the judgement for the Bench said, "She must atone her conscience in the whole controversy.

The Bench gave the order while dismissing two petitions — one by R Sai Bharathi and another by Janata party president Subramanian Swamy — which had challenged the Madras High Court acquitting her in two Tansi cases.

A Chennai court had convicted Jayalalithaa in both the cases and sentenced her to three-year imprisonment in one case and two-year imprisonment in the other.
The Bench said after discussing the trial court and the High Court judgements "we found no ground to interfere in the High Court order as none of the offences alleged have been established by cogent evidence".

The Bench had on September 26, 2002 reserved the verdict on Bharathi's petition.
The High Court had acquitted Jayalalithaa of all corruption charges in the two cases, conviction in which by the trial court had led to her being unseated from the Chief Minister's post in September 2001.
It was contended that by buying the government property, Jayalalithaa had not only abused her official position but had also violated a government order prohibiting ministers from purchasing government property.
Bureau Report