The Supreme Court on Tuesday convicted AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala in a disproportionate assets case, sending her to jail for four years and barred her from contesting elections for 10 years.
Here are what the court said:
• All the respondents in the case were collectively involved
• The judgment and order of the Karnataka High Court is untenable and is thus set aside
• Percentage of disproportionate assets as 8.12% as computed by the high court is based on completely wrong reading of the evidence compounded by incorrect arithmetical calculations
• A1 (Jayalalithaa) to A4 (Sudhakaran) entered into a conspiracy. A1 who was a public servant at the relevant time had come into possession of assets disproportionate to the known sources of her income during the check period and had got the same dispersed in the names of A2 (Sasikala) to A4 and the firms & companies involved to hold these on her behalf with a masked front. Furthermore, the charge of abetment laid against A2 to A4 in the commission of the offence by A1 also stands proved
• The mere fact that the sole public servant (Jayalalithaa) has died will not divest the jurisdiction of the court
• As the sole public servant has died being A1 (Jayalalithaa) in this matter and the appeals against her have abated, A2 (Sasikala) to A4 (Sudhakaran) are liable to be convicted and sentenced
• The trial court correctly held in this matter that private individuals can be prosecuted on the ground that they have abetted the act of criminal misconduct falling under Section 13(1)(e) of the 1988 Act committed by the public servant
• A2 to A4 is proved, the conviction and sentence recorded against them by the trial court is restored in full
• The trial court is ordered to take immediate steps to ensure that the respondents A2 to A4 serve out the remainder of sentence awarded them and take further steps in compliance
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