As rumour of bail for Amma subsides, Jaya supporters burst into tears
Joy gave way to gloom for AIADMK cadres when the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday rejected former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s bail plea in the disproportionate assets case while her supporters were celebrating a false report that the court had granted Amma conditional bail.
The misreporting was so widespread that almost all news agencies, TV channels and newspaper websites picked it up. The confusion arose after Public Prosecutor Bhavani Singh said he would not oppose a conditional bail during the argument. This led to the assumption that bail for Amma was a foregone conclusion.
As news agencies and TV channels jumped the gun before the verdict came, AIADMK workers all over Tamil Nadu rejoiced by bursting crackers, distributing sweets, dancing and singing. Party leaders and workers who had gathered in large numbers in front of the Poes Garden residence of Jayalalithaa were seen hugging each other and shedding tears of joy.
Then came the blow, as Justice AV Chandrashekhara denied Amma’s bail plea. He also rejected her appeal to quash the verdict of the special court, sentencing her to four years in prison and a fine of Rs 100-crore.
Jayalalithaa in her plea claimed she was wrongly convicted of misusing her first term as Chief Minister from 1991 to 1996 to collect assets worth nearly Rs 66-crore, which were incommensurate with her declared income.
Even though Jayalalithaa’s lawyer Ram Jethmalani made a strong case for the suspension of the sentence, the judge did not budge from his stand. Jethmalani pleaded for suspending the sentence pending appeal under Section 389 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Under Section 389, pending any appeal by a convicted person, the appellate court may order that the execution of the sentence or order appealed against be suspended. Also, if the person is in prison, that he or she be released on bail, or on own bond.
“The regular practice was to give bail,” Jethmalani told Justice AV Chandrashekhara, who took up the matter, which was posted for Tuesday by the Vacation Bench on October 1. Jethmalani cited lalu Prasad’s case in the fodder scam in which he appeared for the RJD chief. lalu was granted bail by the Supreme Court (SC) after his conviction.
The court did not accept the submission, with the judge noting that lalu Prasad had spent ten months in jail before being granted bail by the SC. The judge also said there was no parity with lalu Prasad’s case to this.
Even though Public Prosecutor Bhavani Singh had submitted in writing that he would oppose the bail, but on Tuesday he said he would not object to a conditional bail. However, Justice Chandrashekhara rejected the bail plea and said: “There was no ground to suspend the sentence. Corruption is violation of human rights and also leads to economic offences.”
A Ramesh, Amma’s lawyer told the media that they would appeal in the SC at the earliest. “I am disappointed and Jayalalithaa will take a call on her appeal before the SC,” said Jethmalani when asked whether they would approach the SC. The court also rejected bail pleas of Jayalalithaa’s close aide Sasikala and her relatives VN Sudhakaran, disowned foster-son of the former Chief Minister and Ilavarasi, who have also been sent to jail for four years in the 18-year-old case.
Criticising the judgement of the Special Court in the Rs 66.65-crore disproportionate assets case, Jethmalani said assets prior to the period between 1991 and 1996 (when Jayalalithaa was Chief Minister) could not be taken into account. There was nothing disclosed in the conduct of Jayalalithaa to show that she might abscond, he contended.
Counsel Amit Desai, appearing for Sasikala, Sudhakaran and Ilavarasi pleaded for bail, telling the court that no witness talked of assets acquired by the three and suspicion cannot take the place of evidence. Bangalore Police Commissioner MN Reddi said the situation was under control and no untoward incident was reported in and around Bangalore.
Tight security was in place around the Karnataka High Court complex as also the Parappana Agrahara jail with police personnel deployed in good strength anticipating a rush of AIADMK supporters and leaders. Prohibitory orders were in force in the vicinity of the court and the jail, close to the entry point from Hosur on Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border where the police kept a close vigil on entry of vehicles.