Guilty verdict derails Sasikala's CM dreams

Governor seeks help of three legal luminaries to decide on govt formation

The Supreme Court on Tuesday convicted the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) General Secretary V K Sasikala, along with two others, in the two-decade-old disproportionate assets (DA) case. 

Sasikala would not be able to become the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for at least a decade now. The apex court abated the appeal proceedings against late chief minister J Jayalalithaa, owing to her death on December 5. 

At 10.30 am, the Supreme Court Bench of P C Ghose and Amitava Roy upheld the trial court’s order, convicting Sasikala and her relatives V N Sudhakaran and J Elavarasi. They were ordered to surrender before the trial court in Bengaluru. The trial court was ordered to take immediate steps to ensure that the respondents serve out the rest of the sentence (around 3.6 years) awarded them. The ruling aggravated the political confusion in the state. Sasikala held discussions at a private resort, where 123 members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) supporting her have been staying for about four days. She and her supporters have been engaged in a battle with caretaker Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who had resigned after Jayalalithaa’s death but later claimed he was forced to resign. 

The AIADMK announced highways minister and Sasikala’s trusted aide Edappadi K Palanisamy as the party’s legislature leader. Palanisamy met Governor Vidyasagar Rao and staked claim to form the government. Leaders from the Panneerselvam faction also met the governor. Panneerselvam and 19 of his supporters were sacked from the party.  The caretaker CM appealed to the MLAs to take a decision with the recent developments in mind. He asked them to bury the hatchet and unite for the welfare of the party.  The district administration imposed Section 144 in the area around the resort hosting the MLAs. Police are on alert across the state.  Legal experts said a floor test was the best way to resolve who should be invited to form a government. Governor Rao has sought the services of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, Soli Sorabjee and Mohan Parasaran to decide on the formation of a government. Later at night, Jayalalithaa's niece Deepa Jayakumar said she would work with Panneerselvam as if they were "two hands of the AIADMK". The statement ended speculation on whether she would join hands with Panneerselvam.

The caretaker chief minister, flanked by MLAs and MPs in his camp, paid a visit to Jayalalithaa's burial site. Minutes after his arrival, Jayakumar also reached the venue and jointly paid homage to the late chief minister for about 20 minutes. “We will work together jointly as the two hands of the AIADMK in future for the people of Tamil Nadu. He asked for justice. I too ask the same,” Deepa told reporters. Referring to the verdict, she said: “This is a good verdict, a just verdict as those who have to go to jail have gone. This verdict was long pending and most welcomed.” The Supreme Court also said cash and gifts of Rs 2.15 crore received by Jayalalithaa on her birthday cannot be considered lawful income. 

The apex court concurred with the findings of the trial court rejecting Jayalalithaa’s plea that an amount of Rs 2.15 crore and foreign remittance worth Rs 77.52 lakh received by her as birthday gifts in 1992 should be considered as her lawful income. These gifts were in the form of jewellery, cash, demand drafts, silver items, silk sarees and framed portraits on the occasion of her birthday, the court noted. “...In view of the incorporation of Sections 161 to 165A IPC in their letter and spirit in Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, gifts as claimed to have been made were not only prohibited by law, having regard to her office and the role attached thereto, also constitute an offence thereunder. By no means, therefore, the gifts in any form, as offered to Jayalalithaa during the relevant period, can be construed, having regard to the rationale and rigour of underlying objectives of this legislation, be accepted as a lawful source of income,” it said. 

The court made the observations while dealing with the defence of Jayalalithaa that the amount was received by her as gifts on her birthday, celebrated on a massive scale in 1992.

The story so far

1996: DMK govt registers First Information Report against J Jayalalithaa for having assets disproportionate to her known sources of income

2003: Apex court orders shifting of case to a Bengaluru special court, after a plea from DMK leader K Anbazhagan, as Jayalalithaa is chief minister

Sep 27, 2014: Court convicts Jayalalithaa and four others; Jaya goes to jail and loses chief minister’s chair

Sep 29, 2014: O Panneerselvam (OPS) made chief minister  

Oct 17, 2014: Supreme Court grants interim bail to Jayalalithaa and the others

May 11, 2015: Special Bench acquits Jayalalithaa and others 

May 23, 2015: Jayalalithaa becomes chief minister; Karnataka govt files appeal in Supreme Court

Dec 5, 2016: Jayalalithaa pronounced dead after prolonged hospitalisation; OPS becomes chief minister

Feb 5, 2017: OPS quits, but two days later says Sasikala and supporters forced him to resign; both camps claim chief minister’s chair, await Assembly floor test

Feb 14, 2017: Supreme Court abates proceedings against Jayalalithaa but says Sasikala guilty