Bangalore, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was
today convicted in an 18-year-old disproportionate assets case by a special
court here, a verdict that raises questions over her continuance on the post.
The court sentenced her to four years of imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs
100 crore on her.
Special Judge John Michael D’Cunha convicted the 66-year-old
AIADMK Chief in a case of owning assets to the tune of Rs 66.65 crores
disproportionate to her known sources of income during 1991-96 when she was
chief minister for the first time.
Jayalalithaa’s close aide Sasikala Natarajan, her niece
Ilavarasi and her nephew and the chief minister’s disowned foster son
Sudhakaran were also convicted.The verdict was delivered at a makeshift court in the Parappana
Agrahara prison complex in the presence of Jayalalithaa and the other accused.
Since she has got the imprisonment for a period of over two
years, the AIADMK leader stands disqualified immediately from the Assembly and
will have to step down as chief minister.Now Jayalalithaa will have no other option but to resign from
the post of chief minister.
Jayalalithaa had to quit as Chief Minister immediately after her
swearing in 2001 following the Supreme Court declaring null and void the action
of the then Governor Fatima Beevi appointing her as the Chief Minister as she
had been sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment in a corruption case.
O Paneerselvan, a junior Minister handpicked by her, was
appointed as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. By 2002, she was cleared of all
charges and sworn-in again as the Chief Minister.
The area around the court was turned into a fortress as the
platoons of Karnataka State Reserve Police, the city Armed Reserve and the
Rapid Action Force were deployed, besides hundreds of police personnel,
including those in plain clothes.
A large number of AIADMK supporters had gathered since early
morning. The prolonged trial saw five judges – A S Pachapure, A T Munoli,
B M Mallikarjunaiah, M S Balakrishna and John Michael D’Cunha.
The case was transferred to Bangalore’s Special Court in 2003 by
the Supreme Court on a petition filed by DMK leader K Anbazhagan who had
expressed doubts over conduct of fair trial with Jayalalithaa as Chief
Minister. Security has been increased at the DMK headquarters and
residences of its senior leaders. Police said that on a request from DMK,
security had been increased at “Anna Arivalayam”, the headquarters of DMK, two
residences of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President M Karunanidhi
and the residence of Anbazhagan, party’s general secretary.
Appearing before the court four times, Jayalalithaa has answered
1,339 questions in closed door hearings during which she has maintained that
the case was “politically motivated” and “fabricated” at the instance of her
rival DMK.Controversy also swirled around the case after Karnataka
Advocate General B V Acharya quit as Special Public Prosecutor and Bhavani
Singh came in his place. Questions were raised in the Supreme Court over
appointment of Singh also.The case was filed by Subramanian Swamy in 1996. She was
arrested and jailed for some days after DMK came to power in the 1996 Tamil
Nadu Assembly polls.
The Karnataka government has so far spent Rs 2.86 crore on
playing host to the case, according to documents obtained by an RTI activist.
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