Sasikala requests Bengaluru prison officials not to reveal details of release to third parties, cites 'political vendetta'

VK Sasikala, close aide of late Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, wrote a letter requesting authorities of the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru not to release details of her release to any third parties under the Right to Information Act, according to several media reports. Sasikala is currently serving a four-year jail sentence at the prison in a Rs 66 crore disproportionate assets case. This comes just days after prison authorities, on 16 September, in response to an RTI query, stated Sasikala’s ‘probable date’ of release is 27 January, 2021,  as per News18.  In a letter dated 19 September, Sasikala said the third parties file those applications for gaining publicity and also due to political vendetta. “The oblique motive of some applicants is to complicate my lawful release at the right time,” the letter read, according to The Indian Express. As per  The NewsMinute, Sasikala said that it was an invasion of her right to privacy and also said that there were precedents regarding sharing information related to prisoner release under the RTI. Sasikala cited the Ved Prakash Aryavs’ case, where the jail authorities denied providing information of undertrial prisoners as well as convicts. The Chief Information Officer had cited the Supreme Court judgment on the Right To Privacy while declining to provide information to the RTI application too. “The public information officer had denied providing such information stating that details about under-trial prisoners or convicts were personal and revelation of such information is barred under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act,” Sasikala’s letter read, as per Indian Express. According to Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, information which relates to personal information, and the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual cannot be provided by the public information officer, as per News Minute. Sasikala’s sentence ends in February 2021 but she may be released earlier if she manages to pay the fine imposed by the Supreme Court. Her lawyer has also claimed that she could be released by the end of this month on grounds of good behaviour. Her release would be a significant political development in Tamil Nadu, which is due for polls in 2021. With inputs from PTI