SC to hear Jayalalithaa's bail plea Friday

The Supreme Court will Friday hear the bail plea of AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa, who is at present in a Bangalore jail after her conviction in a corruption case.

The former Tamil Nadu chief minister was sentenced to four years in prison and a Rs.100 crore fine.

A bench headed by Chief Justice H.L. Dattu said the matter would be heard Friday as senior counsel Fali Nariman mentioned her matter for listing and an early hearing.

Jayalalithaa moved the apex court Oct 9 after the Karnataka High Court Oct 7 turned down her bail plea, as well as of other convicts Sasikala Natrajan, V.K. Sudhakaran and J. Ilavarasi. The court held that there were no grounds for granting them bail.

Besides health grounds, Jayalalithaa invoked Section 389 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking the suspension of her sentence and grant of bail till the pendency of her appeal against the trial court order convicting and sentencing her in the case.

The high court had relied on apex court orders as it ruled that putting the sentence on hold after an appeal is filed against the trial court order was not automatic. It said the plea for bail after the conviction was different from the plea for bail while the trial was on.

It also cited the apex court ruling that "corruption amounts to violation of human rights and leads to economic imbalances".

A trial court in Bangalore Sep 27 convicted Jayalalithaa in the 18-year-old case for possessing assets disproportionate to her known sources of income.

The case related to period from 1991 to 1996 involving Rs.66.65 crore when she became chief minister for the first time.