SC convicts Sasikala in DA case asked to surrender

New Delhi: AIADMK General Secretary V K Sasikala was today convicted by the Supreme Court which set aside the Karnataka High Court verdict acquitting her in the 19-year-old disproportionate assets case that also involved late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

The apex court 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 two-judge bench comprising Justices P C Ghose and Amitava Roy directed Sasikala and the two relatives to surrender forthwith to the trial court in Bengaluru and serve the remaining part of four year jail term. 

The verdict disqualifies Sasikala from becoming a legislator, and consequentially she can’t be chief minister either. 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.

“Since the charges framed by the trial court have been restored against all of them they will surrender forthwith before the trial court and serve the remaining part of the sentence,” the bench said. The trial court had sentenced Sasikala and her two relatives to four years imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10 crore each. Jayalalithaa was sentenced to four years with a fine of Rs 100 crore.