Jaya sentenced to four years’ imprisonment
29 Sept 2014 4:40 AM IST
The ruling, which was given at a makeshift court in the Parappana Agrahara prison complex in presence of Jayalalithaa and other accused, came late in the afternoon and sent ripples across the country as a series of clashes and arson were reported from several places in Tamil Nadu. She was sent to Bangalore jail.
Jayalalithaa was charged with acquiring assets worth around Rs 66 crore which is disproportionate to her known sources of income. During her first tenure as the chief minister (1991-1996), Jayalalithaa had announced that she would take just Re.1 as salary. However, her assets which was around Rs 3 crore in 1991 had grown to around Rs 66 crore in between 1991-1996. Apart from her, the judge also held three others including her disowned foster son VN Sudhakaran, her close aides Sasikala and J Illavarasi guilty.
With the ruling given by Judge John Michael D’ Cunha, who also fined her Rs 100 crore, Jayalalithaa was automatically disqualified as a member of Tamil Nadu assembly and now the hunt is on to select the next chief minister by party leaders. ‘This case is a politically motivated one,’ Jayalalithaa reacted soon after the verdict through twitter. She was sent to hospital in Parappana Agrahara jail as she felt giddiness and chest pain after the verdict.
A large contingent of paramilitary forces were deployed in the state after the local law and order agencies expressed helplessness in tackling the violence. Since morning AIADMK supporters were seen thronging to temples to pray for their Amma, as Jayalalithaa is referred to by her supporters. But soon after the verdict the state erupted in violence after AIADMK supporters went berserk at Chennai, Madurai, Salem and Coimbatore and even tried to attack the house of DMK chief M Karunanidhi and his son K Stalin.
The agitators were seen burning effigies of Karunanidhi and BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy, who had also filed the case in 1996 against her. A government bus was set on fire in Kancheepuram. Meanwhile, security was beefed up at the residence of Karunanidhi and his son.
The case was transferred to Bangalore in 2003 by the SC on a petition filed by DMK leader K Anbazhagan in which Swamy impleaded himself in his capacity as the original complainant. Swamy also supported the transfer of cases out of Tamil Nadu for a fair trial. In 2001, when AIADMK returned to power several witnesses turned hostile. Then, on a petition filed by DMK leader K Anbazhagan in the apex court, the case was transferred to Bangalore from Chennai in 2003.
Since then, over 255 prosecution witnesses and over 95 defence witnesses have been heard in the case. Jayalalithaa was also summoned by the trial court in 2011 and answered over 1,339 questions asked by the judge.
This is not the first time in her political career that Jayalalithaa has been convicted by a court. In 2000, a trial court sentenced her for three years and two years imprisonment in two cases. Speaking to Millennium Post over telephone AIADMK spokesperson C. Ponnaiyan said: ‘It is a politically motivated judgement.’
On the party’s next move, he said, ‘We are going to approach the higher court. It is a political vendetta.’
Jayalalithaa was charged with acquiring assets worth around Rs 66 crore which is disproportionate to her known sources of income. During her first tenure as the chief minister (1991-1996), Jayalalithaa had announced that she would take just Re.1 as salary. However, her assets which was around Rs 3 crore in 1991 had grown to around Rs 66 crore in between 1991-1996. Apart from her, the judge also held three others including her disowned foster son VN Sudhakaran, her close aides Sasikala and J Illavarasi guilty.
With the ruling given by Judge John Michael D’ Cunha, who also fined her Rs 100 crore, Jayalalithaa was automatically disqualified as a member of Tamil Nadu assembly and now the hunt is on to select the next chief minister by party leaders. ‘This case is a politically motivated one,’ Jayalalithaa reacted soon after the verdict through twitter. She was sent to hospital in Parappana Agrahara jail as she felt giddiness and chest pain after the verdict.
A large contingent of paramilitary forces were deployed in the state after the local law and order agencies expressed helplessness in tackling the violence. Since morning AIADMK supporters were seen thronging to temples to pray for their Amma, as Jayalalithaa is referred to by her supporters. But soon after the verdict the state erupted in violence after AIADMK supporters went berserk at Chennai, Madurai, Salem and Coimbatore and even tried to attack the house of DMK chief M Karunanidhi and his son K Stalin.
The agitators were seen burning effigies of Karunanidhi and BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy, who had also filed the case in 1996 against her. A government bus was set on fire in Kancheepuram. Meanwhile, security was beefed up at the residence of Karunanidhi and his son.
The case was transferred to Bangalore in 2003 by the SC on a petition filed by DMK leader K Anbazhagan in which Swamy impleaded himself in his capacity as the original complainant. Swamy also supported the transfer of cases out of Tamil Nadu for a fair trial. In 2001, when AIADMK returned to power several witnesses turned hostile. Then, on a petition filed by DMK leader K Anbazhagan in the apex court, the case was transferred to Bangalore from Chennai in 2003.
Since then, over 255 prosecution witnesses and over 95 defence witnesses have been heard in the case. Jayalalithaa was also summoned by the trial court in 2011 and answered over 1,339 questions asked by the judge.
This is not the first time in her political career that Jayalalithaa has been convicted by a court. In 2000, a trial court sentenced her for three years and two years imprisonment in two cases. Speaking to Millennium Post over telephone AIADMK spokesperson C. Ponnaiyan said: ‘It is a politically motivated judgement.’
On the party’s next move, he said, ‘We are going to approach the higher court. It is a political vendetta.’
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