FERA violations: Court orders Bengaluru jail to produce Sasikala on Dec 13

A court has issued a warrant to a Bengaluru jail to produce V K Sasikala on December 13 in connection with a case registered by the Enforcement Directorate for alleged Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) violations.

Sasikala, an aide of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister late J Jayalalithaa was convicted in a disproportionate asset case and lodged in the Parapana Agrahara Central jail in Bengaluru since last February.

The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court here had issued a warrant to the jail Superintendent days ago for producing Sasikala, who was eased out of the ruling AIADMK last year, for rectifying procedural irregularities in the charge sheet framed against her last year, court sources told PTI.

Though Sasikala was earlier directed to appear on November 30 by the court, the jail superintendent had informed that she was not well and could not attend the proceedings.

Charges against her and Bhaskaran, another accused, were framed last year by the then Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Economic Offence), A Zakir Hussain.

The prosecution was launched against Sasikala, Bhaskaran and the now-defunct J J TV by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 1995 and 1996 on charges of FERA violations.

The case relates to alleged violations in transactions, including remittances for a transponder and uplinking charges for J J TV channel.

The prosecution alleged that the payments were illegally routed to US-based Rimsat through firms having a network in the Philippines and Singapore.

On February 15, 2017, Sasikala was sent to Parapana Agrahara jail after she surrendered before a trial court at Bengaluru, a day after the Supreme Court restored her conviction in the disproportionate assets case.