Senior advocate Fali S Nariman requested a bench headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu for an urgent hearing on Jayalalithaa's bail plea. She had engaged senior advocate Ram Jethmalani to argue her bail plea before the HC. The bench posted her petition for hearing on Friday.
Nariman said the question was about suspension of the four-year sentence awarded to her. The trial court had also imposed a fine of Rs 100 crore. Jayalalithaa pleaded for suspension of the sentence during pendency of her appeal against conviction in the HC. She said her appeal before the HC was unlikely to be decided in four years.
In her petition, she said as a woman, she deserved bail, especially since there was no apprehension on the prosecution's part that she would flee the course of justice. She questioned the evidence and the conclusions drawn by the Bangalore trial court to reach the verdict of conviction and said she had a good chance of succeeding in her appeal.
Jayalalithaa is seen flashing victory sign to her supporters in Chennai. (TOI file photo)
Along with these grounds, Jayalalithaa also cited her health problems to seek release during pendency of the appeal. Co-convicts in the DA case — Sasikala and V N Sudhakaran — also moved the court for bail. Sasikala and Sudhakaran were sentenced to four years imprisonment with fine of Rs 10 crore each.
Their petitions were mentioned for urgent hearing by senior advocate Sushil Kumar and the court agreed to hear these along with Jayalalithaa's petition.
The Karnataka high court rejected Jayalalithaa's bail plea last week. (TOI file photo)
The disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa was initiated in 1996 on a complaint filed by a DMK leader. On his petition claiming that fair trial was not possible in Chennai as Jayalalithaa had become chief minister, the SC in 2001 transferred the trial to Bangalore. After 18 years, the Bangalore trial court on April 27 recorded conviction against her, Sasikala and Sudhakaran.
Jayalalithaa had said the case was a culmination of the vicious political rivalry adopted by DMK towards her. She said she had suffered mental agony because of the 18-year-old case. She said she was suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure.
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