Updated by admin on
Saturday, September 27, 2014 10:40 PM IST
Chennai:
AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa has acquired the rather dubious distinction of being the first sitting Chief Minister in India to be convicted under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and being jailed thereunder, and faces immediate disqualification as MLA.
Thus, Jayalalithaa has not just lost a case on which hung her credibility, but also lost the chief ministership and the post of MLA, at one stroke.
Her conviction in the 18-year-old disproportionate assets case means that she is the first sitting CM to be jailed under the provisions of the PCA.
The verdict, if it stays and is not set aside or suspended through a stay order petition, will mean that she cannot contest the 2016 Assembly polls and even the 2021 Assembly elections since the ban of six years will take effect after completion of the four-year jail term.
Although Jayalalithaa can function as a de facto CM, as she did in 2001 after she was forced to step down following an adverse Supreme Court ruling in view of the lower court verdict in the TANSI case, this time it will be much more difficult since she will be in prison that too in Karnataka state. It will be hard for senior leaders and cadres to meet her often.
The jail officials in Bengaluru may not be too generous in permitting her to use a cellphone or a laptop for communication. Therefore, it is important for Jayalalithaa to at least get a stay on the special court conviction at the earliest. The least she has to do is be out on bail and get back to Chennai even if she doesn't get the order stayed.
The special court in Bengaluru has convicted Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa to a four-year jail term and a fine of Rs 100 crore, finding her guilty in the Rs 66.65 crore disproportionate assets case.
The Special Court Judge John Michael D’Cunha has also convicted her close aide Sasikala Natarajan, and her relatives Ilvarasi and V N Sudhagaran, former adopted son of Jayalalithaa.
Tamil Nadu chief minister and AIADMK supremo may step down as chief minister on September 27, 2014, night and the ruling party would shortly elect the new CM.
Even while Jayalalithaa is expected to take steps to seek a stay of the special court verdict, it is not yet known if she would get an early stay of the proceedings. In view of a vacuum in the government at the top, the ruling party may be forced to elect a new CM till such time as she is
enabled to contest elections again or the verdict is stayed or altered and she can return to office.
The AIADMK chief has been charged with amassing Rs 66.65 crore between 1991 and 1996 when she was Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
