Violece erupts in TN as Amma goes to jail

4 yrs jail for Jaya

*End of political career as she is barred from contesting elections for 10 years

*Sasikala, her niece Ilavarasi and Jaya’s disowned foster son Sudhakaran also jailed for 4 years

• Tamil Nadu CM sent to jail in 18-year-old graft case
• She was also slapped with a massive fine of Rs.100 crore
• Convicted for holding Rs.66-cr disproportionate assets
• It is the first conviction of a Chief Minister in office
• Fine is also the heaviest imposed in any corruption case
• She can appeal in Karnataka or TN High Court

Bengaluru: In a huge setback to AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, 66, a special court here sentenced her to four years in jail in an 18-year-old Rs 66-crore disproportionate assets' case, and imposed a staggering Rs 100 crore fine on her and others.

Three others – Jayalalithaa's close friend Sasikala, Sasikala's niece Ilavarasi and her nephew and Chief Minister's disowned foster son Sudhakaran – were also convicted and sentenced to four years of jail term and slapped with a fine of Rs 10 crore by special judge John Michael D'Cunha. The Judge pronounced the sentence on the charges levelled against her by DMK general secretary K Anbazhagan in 1996.

They have been convicted on the charges of amassing properties disproportionate to their known sources of income under the Prevention of Corruption Act and criminal conspiracy in the Indian Penal Code.

Soon after the sentence was pronounced, Jayalalithaa and three others, convicted along with her, were taken into judicial custody and taken to a state-run hospital in the city for medical check-up.

It is the first conviction of a sitting Chief Minister in a corruption case. The verdict unseats her from the post and could send her into political exile for 10 years. It comes as a massive blow to Jayalalithaa, the three-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. She won nearly two-thirds majority in the Assembly elections in 2011 and is already preparing ground for a similar show in the next polls. In the 2014 parliamentary elections, her party won 37 of the 39 seats in the State.

Since they have been sentenced to a term of more than three years, they have been lodged in the Central Jail in Parappana Agrahara. They can apply for bail only from Karnataka High Court which is on vacation till October 6 for Dasara.

The Rs 100 crore fine is the highest imposed on any politician by the special judge who heard the case of Rs 66.65 crore disproportionate assets acquired during her first term as Chief Minister between 1991 and 1996. "The fine will be recovered from the sale of property, including jewellery and lands that were seized during the trial and are in the court's custody," Special Public Prosecutor G. Bhavani Singh said.

As a convict has a statutory right to appeal against the sentence, Jayalalitha can, however, move the high court in Karnataka or Tamil Nadu seeking suspension of the sentence.