Sasikala, 2 others move apex court

Claim innocence in corruption case

AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala, V.N. Sudhakaran and Ilavarasi, who were sentenced to fouryear imprisonment in a `66 crore disproportionate asset case, have moved the Supreme Court seeking review of the verdict.

All the three are lodged in a Bengaluru jail.

On February 14, a Bench of Justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Amitav Roy had convicted them by reversing the Karnataka high court judgement acquitting them in the DA case.

Seeking review of this verdict, Ms Sasikala and the two others said that as they were not government servants, the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act would not apply to them.

They said they had been wrongly convicted even after the death of former Tamil Nadu CM J. Jayalalithaa, who was also an accused in the case.

They argued that once the main accused died, the charges against them will not survive independently.

They had not amassed wealth as held in the judgement as they were independent income-tax assesses, and had paid income-tax during the relevant period.

They wanted the court to have a re-look at the verdict and set them free.

The apex court had held that Ms Sasikala and the others hatched criminal conspiracies at Poes Garden to launder ill-gotten wealth of Jayalalithaa for buying properties in the names of “masked fronts”.

It had said Jayalalithaa did not accommodate Ms Sasikala out of “philanthropic urge”, but with calculation to keep herself secure from legal complication which may arise from their criminal activities.