SOUTH
he pronouncement of the much-awaited verdict in the apex court today, which decided the fate of AIADMK General Secretary V K Sasikala in the disproportionate assets case, was completed in about eight minutes. The two judges, Justices P C Ghose and Amitava Roy, reached the dais at 10.32 am in Court Number 6, which was jam- packed with a large number of advocates and media persons.
After the seal of the voluminous judgement had been opened by the court staff, the two judges held discussion for a few moments.
Amid pin-drop silence, Justice Ghose, before pronouncing the sentence, said "You can't understand too much of (this) fatty judgement. We have taken the burden on us."
Immediately after that, Justice Ghose began reading the operative part of the judgement. It was over by 10.40 am. No sooner had Justice Ghose finished with reading the judgement, the silence of the courtroom turned into hustle and bustle with scribes and some advocates rushing out to give out the deliberation of the courtroom drama.
Amidst this scenario, Justice Roy said he was making a supplementary judgement in concurrence with Justice Ghose. "We have expressed deep concern about escalating menace of corruption in the society," Justice Roy said.
In its verdict, the Supreme Court set aside the Karnataka High Court's decision and reinstated the trial court judgement, which had imposed a four-sentence on her. Sasikala will also now be disqualified from holding public office for either six years or in case another appeal is upheld.
The apex court restored the judgement and the findings of the trial court in Bengaluru which had held guilty all the accused including Sasikala's two relatives, V N Sudhakaran and Elavarasi. The two-judge bench comprising Justices P C Ghose and Amitava Roy directed Sasikala and the two relatives to surrender forthwith to the trial court in Bengaluru and serve the remaining part of four year jail term.
The trial court had sentenced Sasikala and her two relatives to four years imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10 crore each. Jayalalithaa was sentenced to four years with a
fine of Rs 100 crore.
So far, a small trickle of MLAs has drifted over to OPS’ side. But that is expected to transform into a flood tide now. However the OPS camp still has a long, uphill battle to go. As Jayalalithaa herself proved, it is not compulsory to be the CM to control the AIADMK. The fight from the Sasikala camp will continue unabated, with a family member or another favourite being appointed in place of Sasikala.
Either way, unless the AIADMK wholly changes and appoints Panneerselvam as the leader of the party, OPS will still have to prove his majority in the Tamil Nadu Assembly anyway. Now the ball is in the court of the AIADMK MLAs.