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SC convicts Sasikala in DA case, sentences her to 4 years in prison
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday convicted AIADMK general secretary Sasikala in the Rs 66 crore disproportionate assets case.
The apex court also sentenced Sasikala to a prison term of 4 years, and imposed a fine of Rs 10 crore on her.
Now, the AIADMK general secretary cannot become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, or contest elections for 10 years - which includes 4 years of prison term.
Sasikala has also been asked by the Supreme Court to surrender immediately.
The apex court has directed that Sasikala must serve over 3 years of her remaining prison term.
A bench of Justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Amitav Roy, who had reserved the verdict on June 7, 2016, gave the verdict in the case on Tuesday.
Subsequently, police reached the Golden Bay resort outside Chennai to arrest Sasikala.
Amma sanctity has been defiled by betrayers, the AIADMK Twitter handle said after the SC’s verdict against Sasikala.
The apex court with its verdict restored in toto the judgement and the findings of the trial court in Bengaluru which had held guilty all the accused including Sasikala's two relatives, V N Sudhakaran and Elavarasi.
The bench read the operative portion of the voluminous judgement saying that "according to the materials and evidence place on record, we set aside the judgement and the order of the high court and affirm in toto the judgement and order the trial court convicting the accused persons."
The bench said since Jayalalithaa has expired, the proceeding against her is abated.
"Nevertheless, we reiterate that having regard to the facts, the charge framed against them by the trial court is restored," the bench said.
In a separate but concurring judgement, Justice Amitava Roy said, We have expressed deep concern about escalating menace of corruption in society.
On June 7 last year, the apex court had reserved its verdict in the case after hearing detailed arguments from all the parties including the Karnataka government.
On July 27, 2015, the apex court had issued notices on Karnataka government's appeal seeking stay of the high court judgement to Jayalalithaa, Sasikala and her relatives.
The Karnataka HC had on May 11, 2015 ruled that Jayalalithaa's conviction by special court suffered from infirmity and was not sustainable in law, clearing decks for her return as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.
The special court had in 2014 held Jayalalithaa guilty of corruption and sentenced her to four years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 100 crore.
Jayalalithaa and three others were accused of allegedly amassing disproportionate asserts to the tune of Rs 66.65 crore during her first term as Chief Minister from 1991 to 1996.
Sasikala has been involved in a long and protracted power struggle with acting Chief Minister O Panneerselvam for the CM's post, following Jayalalithaa's death.
Meanwhile, the numbers in Panneerselvam’s camp continue to boost, with Mettur MLA Semmalai backing the CM. OPS now has 9 MLAs in his camp.
Sasikala still holds the majority, with 125 of 134 MLAs still in her camp. She has moved a number of MLAs to Koovathur resort near Chennai, where they have been staying for several days. Sasikala on Monday stayed overnight at the resort.
