Sasikala’s Conviction in Wealth Case Upheld by Supreme Court

NEW DELHI:
Long-time Jayalalithaa aide Sasikala’s conviction in the disproportionate assets case was upheld today by a Supreme Court bench, nixing any possibility of her becoming Tamil Nadu chief minister.
She and the other accused will be soon taken into custody for serving out the remaining four years of her sentence.They will also have to pay a fine of Rs 10 crore each.
“In the past whenever Amma was in crisis, I also suffered this time also I will take it upon me. ‘Dharma’ will win”, said Sasikala after the verdict.
The verdict disqualifies Sasikala from becoming a legislator, and consequentially she can’t be chief minister either. This also gives caretaker Tamil Nadu CM O Panneerselvam a huge boost in staking claim to be the legitimate successor to Jayalalithaa, who passed away in December.
Sasikala had staked the claim to be Tamil Nadu chief minister over Panneerselvam. His supporters thronged his residence after the SC decision.
Late Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa was also named in the lawsuit, but the case against her stands abated with her demise. Though the criminal case against Jayalali
thaa was abated, it was decided that the fine of Rs 100 crore imposed on her by the Bangalore trial court will be recovered from her properties.
A case was filed in 1996 against late Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa, following a complaint by now BJP MP Subramanian Swamy, that she had assets disproportionate to her known sources of income.
“I was expecting the conviction. I don’t think she can escape the 4 years sentence,” Swamy said.
The two separate judgements were today delivered by a two-judge Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Amitava Roy and Pinaki Chandra Ghosh. Justice Ghose authored the main judgment that ran into around a thousand pages. He himself described it as “fatty judgment”. Justice Roy wrote a separate “thin” concurring judgment.