Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa found guilty in disproportionate assets case

BANGALORE: It was initially seen as a political master-stroke, when J Jayalalithaa announced that she was going to take a salary of just Rs 1 when she became the chief minister (CM) for her first term in 1991. That came back to bite her later. DMK’s M Karunanidhi, the man who succeeded her as CM in 1996, only had to do a simple calculation. A monthly salary of Rs 1 would only amount to Rs 60 in five years, so where did Jayalalithaa’s assets to the tune of Rs 66 crore come from?

Also, Karunanidhi questioned how Jayalalithaa got the money to host an extravagant wedding in 1995 for her then foster son Sudhakaran, the nephew of her confidante Sasikala. The case was originally filed by the Department of Vigilance and Anti Corruption. The Income-Tax Department joined in around the same time, raiding her residences in Poes Garden, Chennai and Hyderabad. The final figure worked out to over Rs 66 crore. Documents showing properties worth Rs 58 crore, 30 kg of gold, including 400 pairs of bangles, 500 kg of silver, 10,000 sarees, 750 pairs of footwear and over 100 wrist watches were seized by the authorities.

Jayalalithaa’s defence has been that the assets were gifts given to her by film directors during her stardom.

In 2003, the case was transferred to a Bangalore special court when Jayalalithaa came back to power for her second term in 2001, over fears expressed by the DMK that she would try to tamper with witnesses. The DMK’s general secretary K Anbazhagan impleaded himself as a petitioner in the case and became the driving force behind the case. Seven judges, three public prosecutors and 25 petitions in the Supreme Court and over 130 adjournments later, the DA case verdict was finally pronounced on Saturday in a makeshift court in Bangalore. — Our Bureau/ Bangalore