The Sasikala clan suffered another setback on Friday as the Madras High Court upheld the two-year imprisonment imposed on M Natarajan (husband of Sasikala), B Bhaskaran (his nephew) and two others by a CBI special court in the 1994 Toyota lexus car import case.
In 2010, a CBI special court in Chennai had convicted all the four and sentenced them to two years imprisonment. The prosecution case was that Natarajan and the three co-accused had imported a Toyota lexus car in 1994 by furnishing false information. They had claimed that it was a used car though the vehicle was brand new.
A probe by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate found that the accused had submitted fake invoice claiming that the car was of 1993 model while it was a brand new vehicle. The exchequer lost Rs 1.06 crore because of the false claims furnished by Natarajan and others.
Natarajan had filed an appeal in the Madras High Court challenging the CBI court verdict. Justice G Jayachandran of the Madras High Court dismissed the appeal filed by Natarajan and confirmed the trial court verdict.
On Thursday, the Madras High Court had dismissed an appeal filed by SR Bhaskaran and his wife Sreedhaladevi against a CBI Special Court verdict sentencing them to five years rigorous imprisonment and three years imprisonment respectively in a disproportionate asset case.
SR Bhaskaran, a clerical staff with the Reserve Bank of India had married Sreedhala (niece of Sasikala and sister of TTV Dinakaran) in 1990. In raids held in the residence and bank lockers of Bhaskaran and Sreedhaladevi, the CBI seized 18 gold bars and assets worth Rs 1.69 crore which was not in proportionate to the known sources of income of the couple.
The CBI special court had convicted them under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Indian Penal Code.
At the time of going to Press, Natarajan was admitted to a private hospital in Chennai following the court verdict. He had undergone kidney and liver transplants in the month of September and was discharged from the hospital only last week.