DA case: HC denies bail, AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa to stay in jail

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday denied bail to AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa. The former Tamil Nadu CM and her aides have been convicted and sentenced to four years in jail in a 1995 disproportionate assets case. Special Public Prosecutor G Bhavani Singh earlier today told the Karnataka High Court that he has no objection to granting conditional bail to the convicts in the case. NDTV reported that the HC relied on the Supreme Court’s stand on the issue to justify denying Jayalalithaa bail. The court said that the SC had previously sent a clear message when it ordered fast tracking of graft cases. The court also called corruption a violation of human rights. The court refused to grant bail due to lack of sufficient grounds. Jayalalithaa’s lawyer told CNN-IBN that they intend to approach SC for bail. It was earlier erroneously reported that Jayalalithaa had been granted conditional bail. Counsel for all the accused concluded their arguments before the bench this afternoon, with Ilavarasi’s advocate questioning the legality of abetment charge and sentence imposed while convicting her in the case. Singh, earlier in the day, had argued that Jayalalithaa being an influential person in Tamil Nadu, if granted bail, could try to escape from conviction or abscond from the country. The vacation bench of the High Court had on 1 October deferred till 7 October pleas of Jayalalithaa and her close aide Sasikala and her relatives VN Sudhakaran and Elavarasi, who were also convicted in the case, to be taken by a regular bench after the end of Dasara vacation. In her petitions seeking immediate bail and challenging her sentence, Jayalalithaa had maintained that the charges of amassing wealth against her were false and that she had acquired property through legal means. [caption id=“attachment_1745223” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Former Tamil Nadu chief minister and AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa.[/caption] Jayalalithaa’s counsel Ram Jethmalani had on 1 October pleaded for suspension of the sentence pending appeal and for her release on bail, which was opposed by Special Public Prosecutor Bhavani Singh, who was the SPP in the Special Court in the disproportionate assets case. Meanwhile, the police are prepared for the influx of AIADMK supporters and leaders, who are camping in various lodges and resorts on the eve of Jayalalithaa’s bail plea hearing, Kumar said. “We have made all security arrangements to avoid any untoward incidents. We have information on a lot of AIADMK supporters and leaders flocking to the city from the border areas of Hosur,” ACP (Law and Order) Alok Kumar told PTI in Bangalore. “Let them come. We have handled the situation on earlier occasions–on the verdict day and bail plea hearing days. We will handle the situation this time too,” Kumar said. Section 144 of the CrPC has been clamped within one km radius of the High Court and Parapanna Agrahara Prison, where Sasikala, Sudhakaran and Elavarasi are also lodged. In his verdict on 27 September, Special Judge John Michael D’Cunha had convicted Jayalalithaa, sentencing her to four years imprisonment, and slapped a staggering fine of Rs 100 crore in the corruption case. Sasikala, Sudhakaran, disowned foster son of the former Chief Minister, and Elavarasi were also sentenced to four years in jail, besides a fine of Rs 10 crore each. With PTI inputs