The fine was filed in a court in Bengaluru through draft claims, lawyer for VK Sasikala said (File)
Chennai:
Assistant to Tamil Nadu’s former chief minister J Jayalalithaa VK Sasikala paid the rupee 10 crore fine served on him on Wednesday in a disproportionate asset case and is expected to be released from prison soon his lawyer said on Wednesday.
The fine was filed in a Bengaluru court by means of draft claims, 69-year-old lawyer N Raja Senthoor Pandian said.
The court is now expected to inform the prison authorities of the payment of the fine and “I expect her to be free soon, before the scheduled release date of January 27, 2021,” he told the PTI news agency.
Chief Minister K Palaniswami, however, said that even after her release, Ms. Sasikala and her family will not be allowed to join the ruling AIADMK party or the government. There will be no change in the party’s stance on Ms Sasikala, he told reporters in Coimbatore.
Ms Sasikala’s two relatives, who were also jailed for four years and fined Rs 10 crore in the assets case, are also in Parappana Agrahara central prison. Ms Sasikala’s lawyer said the process for paying the fine for the other two is also underway.
In 2017, after the Supreme Court restored the Bengaluru Magistrate’s Court ruling against Ms Sasikala and her two relatives, VN Sudhakaran and J Elavarasi in the assets case, the former chief minister’s confidante was surrendered to the Karnataka court on February 15, 2017, and has served her sentence since then.
The trial court in 2014 convicted J Jayalalithaa and three others on bribery and criminal conspiracy charges, 18 years after the disproportionate assets complaint was filed against her. Matriarch AIADMK was also fined Rs 100 crore.
In 2015, the Karnataka High Court overturned the first instance court order convicting Ms. Jayalalithaa and three others.
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 power, Ms. Sasikala took over the ruling AIADMK and even attempted to take over as chief minister until she was sentenced to the death penalty. jail. She overthrew O Paneerselvam and installed Mr. Palaniswami as chief minister.
Later, Mr. Panneerselvam and Mr. Palaiswami patched up and ousted her and her nephew Dhinakaran whom she made No. 2 of the party. They jointly control the party and the government.
Last month Ms Sasikala’s assets worth Rs 1,500 crore were seized by the income tax department.
