Still no relief for Jayalalithaa, bail hearing postponed to next week

Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s bail hearing has been moved to Monday, and will be heard by a vacation bench of the Karnataka High Court. The bail application had been admitted before the bench a short while ago. Jayalalithaa had appealed for bail on Tuesday, and the matter was to be heard today. But following a plea by the prosecution that they did not have time to prepare a counter argument, the hearing had been adjourned to Monday. Jayalalithaa’s aide Sasikala, her relatives VN Sudhakaran and Ilavarasi had also approached the High Court, seeking bail and challenging their conviction. This means that Jayalalithaa will have to continue life as prisoner 7402 in VVIP cell number 23 in the Parappana Agrahara jail for another four days at least. [caption id=“attachment_1736917” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Jaya and Sasikala had both appealed for bail: PTI[/caption] She has been alternating her time between her cell and the prison hospital, to which she was admitted after complaining of dizziness, blurred eyesight and elevated sugar levels. The High Court is on Dasara holidays from 29 September to 6 October and the petition will be taken up on the 7 October by a normal bench. Since the sentencing is for a period more than three years, only the High Court can grant bail in Jayalalithaa’s case. A stay on the conviction would nullify the disqualification of Jayalalithaa as MLA. Unless the conviction is overturned by a superior court, Jayalalithaa runs the risk of being barred from contesting elections for 10 years - four years when she is in jail and six years after release. On Saturday, Special Judge John Michael D’Cunha convicted the 66-year-old AIADMK Chief in a case of owning assets to the tune of Rs 66.65 crores disproportionate to her known sources of income during 1991-96 when she was chief minister for the first time. Soon after Jayalalithaa’s conviction, violence broke out in several parts of Tamil Nadu as angry AIADMK supporters indulged in stone pelting, arson and forcing closure of shops. Tension prevailed as protesters burnt effigies of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, his sons MK Stalin and MK Alagiri and tore party posters in various places including Chennai and Madurai. As a consequence of her conviction, Jayalalithaa had to step down as Tamil Nadu CM and her loyalist and Tamil Nadu Finance Minister O Panneerselvam was on Sunday chosen to be the next chief minister by AIADMK. Described as “Mr Faithful”, Panneerselvam belongs to the dominant Mudukulathor community and is a trusted lieutenant of Jayalalithaa. The name of Panneerselvam was understood to have been communicated by Jayalalithaa in the court itself after the verdict was pronounced on Saturday. She also had a long conversation with him in the court before she was lodged in Bangalore jail. On 14 June, 1996, Subramanian Swamy, then Janata Party leader, had filed a complaint before the Principal Sessions Judge in Chennai alleging that Jayalalithaa had assets disproportionate to her known sources of income. With inputs from agencies