Supreme Court Convicts Sasikala

Setting aside on earlier Karnataka High Court order, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday convicted All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK) general secretary V.K. Sasikala in connection with a 19-year old disproportionate assets case. However the monetary fine has been reduced from Rs 100 Crore to Rs 10 Crore.

Sasikala has been ordered to surrender to the law enforcement authorities immediately to serve the remainder of her four-year jail term. She also will not be able to contest elections for 10 years or hold public office.

The verdict comes in the backdrop of the ongoing power struggle within the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu - between Sasikala and the incumbent Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam. The pending disproportionate assets case that posed a legal hurdle against Sasikala's taking over as the chief minister, dates back to 1996.

Late J. Jayalalithaa, Sasikala and her two relatives, Ilavarasi and Sudhagaran, were convicted in the case that alleged that the former chief minister owned assets far exceeding her known sources of income.

Reportedly there was no split judgment. Both the judges agreed to convict her setting aside Karnataka High Court judgment.

Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy had expressed confidence that the Supreme Court would convict All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK) general secretary V.K. Sasikala in disproportionate assets case.

“This case got initiated after I submitted the documents to the Supreme Court. We have argued about the case in detail as we have fought at every level. I expect we would emerge victorious. We have to see on which basis she will get conviction. I know the case very well and expect that she will be convicted,” Swamy, who is the complainant in the case against Sasikala, had said.

The pending disproportionate assets case dates back to 1996. J. Jayalalithaa, Sasikala and her two relatives, Ilavarasi and Sudhagaran, had been convicted in the case that alleged that the former chief minister owned assets far exceeding her known sources of income. After they were acquitted in 2015, an appeal was filed in the Supreme Court.