Sasikala: Poes To Prison





OVER TO RAJ BHAVAN NOW With the Supreme Court delivering a deadly blow to Sasikala's chief ministerial ambitions, governor Vidyasagar Rao is expected to order a floor test soon to end the impasse in Tamil Nadu
Jaya too found guilty; sentence disqualifies Sasi from contesting elections for 10 years

The Supreme Court has virtually ended AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala's chief ministerial ambitions when it upheld her conviction in a `66-crore disproportionate assets case by a trial court that sentenced her to four years' imprisonment. Sasikala, who has roughly spent two months in jail earlier, will have to surrender before a Bangalore lower court, the top court directed.However, reports from Chennai said she was waiting for a copy of the verdict before surrendering. The conviction disqualifies her from contesting elections for six years in addition to the four years she will be in jail. Her camp said it would seek a review of the judgement, which may not help as the review will be done by the same bench. Justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Amitava Roy in their verdict held former TN CM Jayalalithaa too guilty of being part of the conspiracy to transfer her ill-gotten wealth to Sasikala and her extended family through several firms. J Elavarasi, Sasikala's elder brother's wife, and V Sudhakaran, son of Sasikala's elder sister, too have been convicted. Jaya had adopted Sudhakaran as her foster son, only to disown him later.
All of them were s e n t e n c e d by a Beng aluru trial court to four years imprisonment and asked to deposit `10 crore fine for abetting a criminal conspiracy . The trial was conducted in Karnataka under the SC order. They were also sentenced to another six months and `10,000 fine under the Prevention of Corruption Act.However, the Karnataka high court in May 2015 overturned the conviction.Tuesday's verdict has set aside the high court order and restored the trial court verdict. The trial court had also directed that the fine be recovered from Jayalalithaa's assets left over and the other convicts' fixed deposits, gold and other jewellery . The rest shall be sold to recover any shortfall.
All immovable properties registered in the 71 names of Lex Property Developments, Meadow Agro Farms, Ramaraj Agro Mills, Signora Business Enterprises, Riverway Agro Products and Indo Doha Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, shall be confiscated, the SC verdict said, reviving the special court order.
“The facts and circumstances proved in evidence undoubtedly point out that A2 to A4 (Sasikala and her relatives) were accommodated in the house pursuant to the criminal conspiracy hatched by them to hold her assets,“ the court recorded.

Source :
The Economic Times