JOIN USSasikala to walk out of Parappana Agrahara jail on January 27?
With her early release unlikely, jailed AIADMK leader V K Sasikala will, in all probability, walk out of the Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru on January 27 after completing her four-year prison term in a disproportionate assets (DA) case.
Sasikala (69) surrendered before the jail authorities on February 15, 2017, after the Supreme Court upheld a 2014-trial court order that sentenced four persons, including late J Jayalalithaa, to four years in jail for amassing wealth.
Her release comes just before Tamil Nadu goes to its most crucial Assembly polls in recent years. Sources in Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam helmed by her nephew T T V Dhinakaran told DH any decision on whether she will actively participate in the elections will be taken only after her release and “some rest.”
The prison had in September last year said Sasikala's “probable date of release” is January 27, 2021, after taking into account days she already spent in jail before her conviction provided she pays the fine amount as imposed on her by the court.
Sasikala's brother-in-law Pazhanivelu, his wife Vasantha Devi, her nephews Dr S Venkatesh and Vivek Jayaraman, paid Rs 10 crore and ten thousand on her behalf before a Bengaluru court on November 18.
“The prison authorities had publicly said the date of probable release is January 27, 2021, if she (Sasikala) pays the fine amount. Now that the fine has been paid and all formalities completed, there is no way that my client can be held in jail after the aforementioned date,” N Raja Senthoor Pandian, Sasikala's counsel, told DH.
Pandian added that he was still hopeful that Sasikala may walk out of the jail before January 27 as he firmly believes that the close aide of Jayalalithaa deserved remission of the jail sentence. The lawyer had submitted a petition before the jail authorities on November 19 seeking Sasikala's release immediately. However, no decision has so far been taken against the petition.
Sasikala's family has also identified two to three accommodation in Chennai for her to stay after she walks out of the jail—the Poes Garden palatial bungalow of Jayalalithaa where she had stayed for decades together is now under the state government's control, which will convert it into a memorial for her.
A bungalow is being constructed on a land opposite to Jaya's Poes Garden residence for Sasikala to occupy, but the work is expected to take a couple of months.
“No way that the bungalow will ready before January 27. We have identified two to three places for her to stay in Chennai. She will choose the right place for her. We cannot speak for her as not even her lawyer has been able to meet her since March 2020,” a source in the know-how told DH.
Sasikala's first year in prison was marked by several controversies as she and her sister-in-law Ilavarasi, who is also serving her sentence in the DA case, were accused of enjoying five-star treatment inside the jail. Sasikala was also alleged to have stepped out of the jail for shopping.