Karnataka high court denies bail to AIADMK chief #Jayalalithaa Jayalalithaa to stay in jail, Karnataka HC rejects bail plea Writes Sudipto Mondal and KV Lakshmana for Hindustan Times Hundreds of supporters protested on the streets and shouted slogans on Tuesday after the Karnataka High Court denied bail to AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa who was jailed by a Bengaluru court in a corruption case last month. Jayalalithaa was forced to step down as chief minister of Tamil Nadu after being found guilty of amassing wealth beyond her known sources of income and was replaced by her close aide O Panneerselvam. The Bengaluru special court handed her a four-year prison sentence and a Rs100-crore penalty. Unless the conviction is overturned by a higher court, the AIADMK chief will be disqualified from contesting elections for a period of 10 years from the date of the verdict. Celebrations by the party cadre fizzled out after initial media reports that Jayalalithaa had been granted bail turned out to be incorrect. Tight security was in place around the high court complex with police anticipating a rush of AIADMK supporters and leaders. Rejecting Jayalalithaa’s plea, justice AV Chandrashekhara said there were no grounds for granting bail to her despite the prosecution telling the court that it had no objections to a conditional bail. Corruption amounts to violation of human rights and leads to economic imbalance, the judge said. The 66-year-old AIADMK chief, a former movie star, has a cult following in her state and is renowned for distributing free laptops, jewellery and fans to voters. On Tuesday morning, posters saying Kannadigas living in Tamil Nadu would be held hostage if Jayalalithaa was not released from jail sprung up in parts of Chennai. The AIADMK tried to distance itself from the row and its workers tore down the sheets allegedly put up by an expelled party member. “Warning ... immediately release peoples Chief Minister Amma ... otherwise we will hold Kannadigas living in Tamil Nadu as hostages,” read the message which also had the names of several AIADMK members. The party said the posters were put up without its knowledge and stressed that it stood committed to the welfare of all sections of society.
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 13:19:33 +0000
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