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Jayalalithaa jailed, stripped of chief minister’s post
View(s):Court finds her guilty of massive corruption; 28 kilos of gold, 750 pairs of shoes, more than 10,000 saris and scores of illegal companies
A Special Court in Bangalore yesterday convicted and sentenced Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa to four years in prison and a fine of about one billion rupees, in the disproportionate assets case.
Since the sentence in the case exceeded three years, the special court does not have jurisdiction to grant bail and she will be taken into custody, the Hindu online reported yesterday. Judge John Michael Cunha pronounced the verdict at Gandhi Bhavan, in front of Bangalore Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara, where the court has been temporarily shifted for pronouncing the verdict in view of Z+ security provided to Ms. Jayalalithaa.
The conviction in the case led to her immediate disqualification as an MLA (member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly) and made it untenable for her to hold the post of Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The other three accused in the case, V.K. Sasikala, V.N. Sudhakaran, and J. Ilavarasi, who were also convicted, were sentenced to four years in jail and a fine of 10 crores.
All four accused in the case were convicted under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 in the disproportionate assets case registered almost 18 years ago. Earlier in the day, Special Public Prosecutor Bhavani Singh told The Hindu. “All the accused have been convicted.”
Only the court staff, the four accused persons, around eight advocates representing the accused were allowed inside the court room while the journalists were restriced at a place nearly around 300 metres away from the court complex due to security reasons. While prosecution pressed for convicts, the accused sought liberal approach due to their age.
Under Section 13(2) and 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, under which she has been convicted attracts a minium punishment of one year and maximum upto seven years. The prosecution had charged that the accused were purchasing defunct companies/firms from their original owners, then launder money, obtained by corrupt means, through these companies. For this purpose 34 “shell” companies were set up and around 100 bank accounts were opened in the names of these companies and cash was deposited in these accounts.
V.K. Sasikala, V.N. Sudhakaran, and J. Ilavarasi were engaged in purchase of properties in the name these companies using ill-gotten money as benamis for Ms. Jayalalithaa. The trial was shifted to Bangalore from Chennai in 2003 following the Supreme Court’s order based on DMK leader K. Anbazhagan’s complaint that “fair” trial was not possible at Chennai as the AIADMK-appointed public prosecutor was “hand-in-glove” with the accused persons.
It took nealry 11 years for the Special Court in Bangalore to complete the trial due to multi-round littigation before the Karnataka High Court as well as the Supreme Court over several orders passed by the court during the trial.
Meanwhile, the AFP news agency reported the chief minister of the prosperous southern state of Tamil Nadu was charged with amassing illegal wealth in 1997, when police seized assets including 28 kilos of gold, 750 pairs of shoes and more than 10,000 saris in a raid on her home.
Prosecutors said her assets, which reportedly included two 1,000-acre estates in the lush tropical state she ran, were vastly disproportionate to her earnings during her first term as chief minister, which ran from 1991 to 1996.Hundreds of party loyalists had come to Bangalore to show support for their leader, and many were in tears after the verdict.
“She will come out victorious, she will come out stronger,” one supporter told NDTV news channel.The 66-year-old politician enjoys huge popularity in Tamil Nadu, a manufacturing hub, where she is known to her fans simply as “Amma” (Mother). Her AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) party emerged as third biggest force in the national parliament after winning 37 of the 39 parliamentary seats in the state in this year’s general election.
Jayalalithaa and her supporters have always maintained that corruption charges against her were politically motivated.
She has earned the loyalty of people in the southern state with a series of highly populist schemes including an “Amma canteen” that provides lunch for just three rupees, although she has also drawn accusations of an autocratic governing style.Her comments during the election campaign that it was time for a change in New Delhi raised speculation that her party could act as kingmaker to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, although in the end, his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won an outright majority.
Nevertheless, she is regarded as an ally of the prime minister, and her conviction will come as a blow to the government. Jayalalithaa took over the leadership of the AIADMK party after the death of its founder M. G. Ramachandran — her on-screen love interest in multiple movies. She is now on her third term as chief minister of Tamil Nadu, where she draws massive support, and police were on high alert for protests after yesterday’s verdict.