There is no peace for former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa even in her death as the Supreme Court on Tuesday held her to be the mastermind in the disproportionate assets conspiracy hatched among her, Sasikala, and two family members of the latter, by floating companies to transfer illegal funds and act as a ‘smokescreen’ to cover-up large acquisitions of land worth 300 acre.
Though the appeal filed against her acquittal by the Karnataka High Court on May 11, 2015 stood abated in view of her untimely demise on December 5, 2016, the apex court Bench of Justices PC Ghose and Amitava Roy was unsparing in their criticism about the role played by the former CM in amassing wealth disproportionate to her income.
Through a web of 32 companies, the former CM conducted her illegal transactions by receiving huge funds into bank accounts held by Sasikala, her nephew VN Sudhakaran and sister-in-law J Elavarasi, besides the bank accounts operated by the firms.
The income received by six companies was attributed directly to the income of Jayalalithaa by the prosecution, which the trial court and now the Supreme Court held to be true. The remaining companies were partnership firms run jointly by Sasikala and Jayalalithaa or the other accused.
After going through the evidence about the six companies, the apex court in its judgment said, "The numerous inter account transfers would only corroborate massive unaccounted cash deposits being made, the origin whereof had been No. 36, Poes Garden (the official residence of CM). For all intents and purposes, these bank accounts were construed to be one." This was the reason that while slapping Jayalalithaa with a fine of Rs 100 crore, the trial court ordered the CBI to attach all moveable and immovable assets of these six companies to recover the fine.
Interestingly, these six companies that were incorporated around 1990 opened bank accounts only after 1992 when Sudhakaran and Elavarasi got inducted as Additional Director/Director in these firms. Further, revealing about the conspiracy between the accused, the bench said, "In 90 per cent of registered deeds, the companies were not represented by Secretary or Director and documents (submitted to the Registrar of Companies) did not contain address of companies which was a clear indication of shady and murky deals undertaken in their names with a view to screen property acquired through illegal means." In this manner, Jayalalithaa amassed close to 300 acres of land in the name of these shell companies that presented as a "smokescreen" to mask large-scale transactions.
Further, the CBI found out that a total of 50 bank accounts opened in the name of the accused and the firms constantly received huge credit flows, the origin of which was from Accused 1 (Jayalalithaa), said the prosecution, as it coincided with her tenure as Chief Minister from June 24, 1991 to May 13, 1996. A spurt in acquisition of assets during this period was what nailed the guilt of the accused as most of these assets lay dull prior to this period.