A special court in Bangalore sentencedTamil Nadu Chief Minister JJayalalithaa and her three associates -N Sasikalaa, J Elavarasi and VNSudhakaran - to four yearsimprisonment in the Rs 66.65-croredisproportionate assets case.The court of John Michael DCunhaimposed a fine of Rs 100 crore onJayalalithaa and Rs 10 crore on eachof the other convicts. If they fail to paythe fine, they will have to serve anadditional one year in jail. Jayalalithaacant contest elections for six years.Jayalalithaa was sent to hospital inParappana Agrahara jail as she feltgiddiness and chest pain after theverdict.All the accused were convicted foroffences punishable under Section120(B) of the IPC (criminalconspiracy), 13(1) of the PreventionCorruption Act (criminal misconduct bypublic servants) and 109 (abetment)by special judge John Michael DCunhaon Saturday afternoon, special publicprosecutor Bhavani Singh told TOI.The case was registered by theDirectorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) of Tamil Nadupolice in 1996, after the present BJPleader Subramanian Swamy movedcourts and obtained necessarydirections.By listing a total of 78 properties,kilosof gold and silver, besides diamonds,personal accessories and fraudulenttransactions in ghost or benamicompanies numbering 32, the DVACsaid she and her associates hadamassed wealth worth Rs 66.65 croredisproportionate to her known sourcesof income as chief minister during1991-96.Jayalalithaa, Sasikalaa and Ilavarasiarrived at the court at 10.42pm whileSudhakaran (Jayalalithaas formerfoster son) had arrived earlier. Almostall ministers of Tamil Nadu cabinet,including seniors O Paneerselvam,Edappadi K Palaniswami and NathamR Viswanathan, were in attendance atthe venue where the special court hadbeen shifted to for judgment. Thoughthe FIR was registered in September1996, the case dragged on for nearly18 years, partly due to the DMKsinsistence on having the trial shiftedout of Tamil Nadu and also due toumpteen petitions and appeals filed bythe accused. Towards closing stages,the sheer number of questions puttothe chief minister — 1,339 in all —contributed to the delay, as she had tomake time to answer them in betweenher work as the chief minister.Jayalalithaa needed four sessionsandtwo months to complete the formality.From the day the apex court orderstaying all proceedings in the assetscase in a special court in Chennai, andits ultimate transfer to a special courtin Bangalore, six years were lost. But itwas the methods adopted by theChennai court which gave room toDMK general secretary K Anbazhaganto rush to the Supreme Court andobtain stay. While it was being heardby a special court in Chennai, theprosecution allowed recall of 76prosecution witnesses whoseexamination and cross-examinationwere already over.As feared, 64 of them turned hostile,weakening the case considerably. Theprosecutor did not seek to declare themas hostile nor did he initiate perjuryproceedings against them, pointed outthe Supreme Court while transferringthe case to Karnataka, to be heard at aspecial court in Bangalore. Similarly,the Chennai special courts orderdispensing with Jayalalithaas personalpresence in court to answer courtqueries under Section 313 CrPC alsodid not go down well with the apex court.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 04:59:32 +0000
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