The Supreme Court is likely to announce on Tuesday its verdict in the disproportionate assets case involving AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala, her sister-in-law Ilavarasi and Sasikala’s nephew Sudhakaran. Before her death, late J Jayalalithaa, too was an accused in this case.
The political stalemate in Tamil Nadu could end one way or the other, either in favour of Sasikala or her rival O Panneerselvam, depending on the outcome of the judgment. An adverse verdict could end Sasikala’s dream of becoming the Chief Minister of the State, while in case of a favourable decision, she should be able to keep her flock of MlAs together. A split verdict will also suit her case, since that might give her a chance to prove her majority on the floor of the House.
A Bench of Justices PC Ghose and Amitava Roy is expected to deliver separate judgments at 10:30 am on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in a related development Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi on Monday sent his opinion to Governor Vidyasagar Rao on the present political crisis in the State. Sources indicated that Rohatgi told the Governor to convene a special Assembly session within a week for conducting a composite floor test to determine which of the two AIADMK leaders, Panneerselvam or Sasikala, enjoyed majority.
This, he said, was in line with several SC decisions on this subject. He cited the Jagadambika Pal decision of the apex court pronounced in 1998 where a similar situation arose with two contenders for the Chief Minister’s post in Uttar Pradesh.
The DA case was filed by senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy against all the accused for amassing wealth and assets worth Rs 66.65 crore, which was disproportionate to their known sources of income during 1991 to 1996, when Jayalalithaa was the TN CM.
A special court in Bengaluru in September 2014 had sentenced Jayalalithaa, Sasikala and two others to four years imprisonment and fines ranging from Rs 10 crore to Rs 100 crore. later, the Karnataka High Court acquitted the accused persons.
Meanwhile, in a late evening development, Saravanan, the AIADMK MlA representing Madurai South constituency, “escaped by hoodwinking” private security guards deployed by the party leadership to keep the MlAs supporting Sasikala under “safe custody”.
Saravanan reached Chief Minister Panneerselvam’s official residence at 8:30 pm from the Golden Bay Resort that is 90 km away from Chennai.
“I managed to escape minutes before the arrival of Sasikala at the retreat for an interaction with the MlAs who are kept under custody of private security guards,” said Saravanan.
Within minutes of Saravanan’s arrival, Madurai MP Gopalakrishnan, also reached Panneerselvam’s residence, taking the number of MPs in the CM’s camp to 11.
Saravanan said more MlAs would join Panneerselvam in days to come as most of them were afraid and unfamiliar with the geography of that part of Chennai where they have been put up.
Addressing reporters at his residence, Panneerselvam said he has been getting phone calls from MlAs who have been herded to the beach resort much against their will. “Each of them is guarded by four goons and tortured,” said the Chief Minister.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, as part of a public relations drive, Sasikala launched a mass contact programme by addressing groups of party workers who were brought to Veda Nilayam from different parts of the State.
Sasikala claimed that it was she who made Panneerselvam the CM. “I was not interested in becoming the Chief Minister or general secretary of the party. If I wanted, I could have become the Chief Minister long ago. But I was more interested in being with Amma and guiding her in building up the party. The people of TN now consider me a lioness,” said Sasikala.
She claimed that when Jayalalithaa died on December 5, 2016, she wanted to remain with the mortal remains of her leader. “I instructed Panneerselvam and five other Ministers to rush to Raj Bhavan and get themselves sworn in as Chief Minister and Ministers,” she said.
Sasikala said Panneersel-vam was reluctant to become the CM and persuaded her to accept the top job. “I wanted to remain with the body of Amma for her last journey and did not accept his suggestion. It was only when he started hobnobbing with DMK leaders that I smelled a rat and decided to divest him of the post of Chief Minister,” she said.
“I was the one who motivated and encouraged Amma whenever she faced setbacks in life. She had tried to run away from public life many times but I made her stay put and fight back. We two women moulded the AIADMK and the State for the last 33 years.
I remained in the background, advising her how to run the party and the State. I was the one who discussed with other parties and formed alliances at the time of elections,” claimed Sasikala.
Pointing to Panrutti Ramachandran, one of the founding leaders of the AIADMK, Sasikala said she had held discussions with him also for political alliances when he was in another party.