The Public Interest Litigation filed by the founder trustee of Consumer Care Council `voice' K M Vijayan, a city advocate, contended that the power to transfer cases could not be effected by an executive order, as it had to be exercised only by the Judiciary.

The petition is likely to come up for hearing tomorrow.

Stating that the notification was issued by the Union Ministry of Personnel, headed by an AIAMDK Minister, he contended it was a clear case of malice and bias in law, on the part of the Ministry to issue the impugned order to save party supremo J Jayalalitha and other former ministers facing corruption cases against them in the three special courts.

Vijayan contended that the February 5 notification violated Section 407 of CRPC (power of a high court to transfer cases and appeals) and Art 14 of theconstitution.

Contending that the notification had caused grave damage to the concept of rule of law and impartial adjudication, he alleged, ``It was issued purely to satisfy persons in power. It interferes with the cause of justice and amounts to contempt of court.''

The petitioner alleged that from the moment the BJP-led Government came to power at the Centre, its ally, the AIADMK with 18 MPs, had been insisting that the Centre put obstacles in one way or the other to stall proceedings in the corruption cases against Jayalalitha and others in the special courts, constituted by the Tamil Nadu Government on April 30, 1997.

The AIADMK party, having failed in its attempts to stall the proceedings, had forced the Vajpayee Government to exercise a power which, he contended, the Government did not possess.

Vijayan contended that once the Tamil Nadu Government had invoked its jurisdiction under Sec 3(1) of Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) with the concurrence of the Madras High Court, which had also beenupheld by a division bench of the court, the Ministry of Personnel had no jurisdiction to set aside the ruling.

The Centre could exercise its power to transfer cases under Sec 3(1) and Sec 4(2), only if the State Government did not exercise its power. Since the appointment of special judges by the Tamil Nadu Government was for a group of cases, the need for the Centre to invoke its jurisdiction did not arise, the petitioner said.

He prayed that the court declare the notification illegal, unconstitutional and inconsistent with the provisions of Sec 3 and Sec 4 of PCA and for an interim stay of its operation.