The fine was deposited in a court in Bengaluru through draft lawsuit, said VK Sasikala’s lawyer (File)
Chennai:
Assistant to former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa VK Sasikala paid the 10 million rupee fine he received in a disproportionate assets case on Wednesday and is expected to be released from jail soon, his lawyer said Wednesday.
The fine was deposited in a Bengaluru court through draft lawsuits, said 69-year-old lawyer N Raja Senthoor Pandian.
The court is now expected to inform the prison authorities about the payment of the fine and “I hope it will be released soon, before the release date scheduled for January 27, 2021,” he told the PTI news agency.
However, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said that even after liberation, Ms. Sasikala and her family will not be able to join the ruling AIADMK party or the government. There will be no change in the party’s position on Ms. Sasikala, he told reporters in Coimbatore.
Sasikala’s two relatives, who were also imprisoned for four years and fined 10 million rupees in the case of assets, are also in Parappana Agrahara Central Jail. Ms. Sasikala’s attorney said the process to pay the fine for the other two was also resuming.
In 2017, after the Supreme Court restored the Bengaluru trial court ruling against Ms Sasikala and her two family members, VN Sudhakaran and J Elavarasi in the assets case, the former Chief Minister’s confidante surrendered to the Karnataka court on February 15, 2017, and she has been serving her sentence ever since.
In 2014, the trial court convicted J Jayalalithaa and three others on charges, including corruption and criminal conspiracy, 18 years after the disproportionate assets case was filed against her. The AIADMK matriarch was also fined 100 million rupees.
In 2015, the Karnataka High Court overturned the lower court order convicting Ms. Jayalalithaa and three other people.
With the death of J Jayalalithaa in December 2016, Karnataka’s appeal against her was dropped.
In the months following Ms. Jayalalithaa’s death in office, Ms. Sasikala took over the ruling AIADMK and even attempted to take over as Chief Minister until she was sentenced to prison. He overthrew O Paneerselvam and installed Mr. Palaniswami as Chief Minister.
Later, Mr. Panneerselvam and Mr. Palaiswami patched up and expelled her and her nephew Dhinakaran, whom she ranked second in the match. They jointly control the party and the government.
Last month, Ms. Sasikala’s assets worth Rs 1.5 billion were seized by the income tax department.
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