Chennai: A Special Court today (Jan 23, 2004) acquitted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in the SPIC disinvestment case.

Special Judge R Rajamanickam also acquitted former State Industries Secretary C Ramachandran and industrialist A C Muthaiah who were arraigned in the case along with Jayalalithaa, holding that the prosecution had failed to prove the case beyond all reasonable doubt.

They were charged by CBI (Central Investigating Agency), the investigating agency, with conspiring to get the State-owned Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) to renounce its rights in the joint sector Southern Petro-Chemical Industries Corporation (SPIC) in March 1992, when SPIC came out with a "zero conversion" bonds issue.

As a result of the then AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) Government deciding not to subscribe to the rights issue, but instead accepting a "renunciation" price of Rs 12.37 crore, the State had allegedly suffered a loss of Rs 28.29 crore, the chargesheet said.

They have been charged under Sec 120 (B) IPC (Indian Penal Code) and Sec 13(2) read with Sec 13(1)(D) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Sec 109 IPC for abetment.