Bengaluru: Subramaniam Swamy was all over the prime time after the Supreme Court verdict on the disproportionate asset case. He was the man of the moment, for it was his complaint in Chennai in 1996 that led to a probe against the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalalithaa, which later came to be known as the “Disproportionate assets case”. While Jayalalithaa was the first accused in the case, her aide Sasikala, her erstwhile foster son VN Sudhakaran and J Ilavarasi, a relative of Sasikala, are the other accused. The case saw its closure this week, with CM-aspirant Sasikala, now AIADMK chief being convicted for four years.

A tweet by Subramanian Swamy, after Amma’s acquittal in the year 2015 is doing the rounds in social media. It reveals the journey of the case and how some figures shot into limelight.

“In my Appeal to SC In JJ DA case. I will prove that the KHC judgment is a “tragedy of arithmetic errors”. JJ will have to resign again if CM.”

The `tragedy of arithmetic errors’ was attributed to Justice CR Kumaraswamy. According to a Deccan Chronicle report, Karnataka Brastachara Nirmoolana Vedike, a group of RTI activists have alleged that he had been allotted a flat by the Karnataka Housing Board in 1997 when he was district and sessions judge in Kolar, which was then allegedly cancelled by him in exchange for an independent house in Mysuru.

According to RTI documents obtained by advocate ARS Kumar, Justice Kumaraswamy’s wife M N Nagarathnamma was allotted a Bengaluru Development Authority site in 2005; and he had also been allotted a flat by the Karnataka Judicial Housing Building Co-Operative Society Limited in 2006, allegedly in violation of the House Building Co-Operative Society. “While dealing with cases involving high ranking government officials and popular politicians, lawyers face a tough time maintaining their reputation for incorruptibility,” says Puneet Bharadwaj, lawyer.

Expressing similar sentiments, another lawyer Gina Dutta, Lawyer, says, “Justice Kumaraswamy was a respected judge. The Bar Council has always spoken in favour of him. I wouldn’t disagree that there is a possibility of corruption, but he is innocent till he is charged guilty.” Not exercising caution, lawyer Soumi Chowdhury says, “The final verdict says it all. His maths was all wrong, there are several allegations against Justice Kumaraswamy. It is time for him to answer some tough questions.”