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Jaya set to return as CM
In a development bound to bring her back as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, the Karnataka High Court on Monday acquitted AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case, triggering wild celebrations by her supporters all across the state.
Tamil Nadu may go for snap polls
Chennai/Bengaluru: In a development bound to bring her back as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, the Karnataka High Court on Monday acquitted AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case, triggering wild celebrations by her supporters all across the state.
"Justice has won," the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister said hours after a special bench in Bengaluru acquitted her in the Rs 66.65 crore case in which she was sentenced to four years in jail by a lower court. "This was a slander cast on me out of political vendetta. The verdict has shown that I have not committed any wrong, it has helped me emerge as gold further refined by fire," Jaya said.
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The charges were not "sustainable", Justice C R Kumaraswamy said in the much-awaited verdict in the case in which Jayalalithaa, 67, was also fined a whopping Rs 100 crore. The judge also acquitted Jayalalithaa's three co-convicts who too were sentenced to four years in jail and fined Rs 10 crore each. They included close aide Sasikala Natarajan. The lower court was told to release Jayalalithaa's confiscated assets.
"The judgment signifies that justice has won," said Jayalalithaa, who stepped down as Chief Minister after her earlier conviction. "It is not a victory for me but a victory for justice." Within minutes of the judgment, AIADMK leaders, including Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, rushed to Jayalalithaa's residence. Outside and all over Chennai and Tamil Nadu, boisterous celebrations erupted.
Political analyst Gnani Shankaran said the judgment would place Jayalalithaa on a strong wicket ahead of the 2016 elections in Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK may even go for a snap election, he said.AIADMK sources said Jayalalithaa was set to return as Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister. By law, she will have to get elected to the Assembly within six months.
DMK leader and former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi raised questions about the judgment. Bharatiya Janata Party MP Subramanian Swamy, who enjoys frosty ties with the AIADMK leader, threatened to appeal against the verdict.
