Sasikala's swearing-in as Tamil Nadu CM on Tuesday put on hold; PIL in SC against AIADMK general secretary

After Jayalalithaa passed away on December 5, 2016, Sasikala was elected general secretary of AIADMK on December 29 and elected leader of its legislature party on Sunday.

Chennai: AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala may not take charge as chief minister of Tamil Nadu tomorrow, as per reports on Monday.

The date for swearing-in of Sasikala is yet to be finalised, a party spokesperson said.

A Raj Bhavan official here also said that Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, who holds the post of Tamil Nadu Governor as additional charge, has left for Mumbai and there is no plan for him to travel to Chennai on Tuesday.

"There is no information (yet) on the swearing-in date," AIADMK spokesperson CR Saraswathi told IANS amid speculation that it could be on February 9.

Rao accepted Chief Minister O Panneerselvam's resignation on Monday.

In a letter to Panneerselvam, copies of which were given to the media, Rao said, "I hereby accept your resignation and the resignation of your Council of Ministers tendered vide your letter dated February 5."

"I request you and the present Council of Ministers to function until alternate arrangements are made," he added.

Panneerselvam tendered his resignation on Sunday to enable Sasikala, who was elected the legislature party leader of AIADMK, to become the third woman CM of Tamil Nadu.

On Sunday, Sasikala was elected AIADMK legislature party leader by its MLAs, paving the way for her elevation to the top post.

PIL in SC seeking to stall swearing-in of Sasikala as TN CM:

On the other hand, a PIL was today moved in the Supreme Court seeking to restrain Sasikala from being sworn in as Tamil Nadu CM on the ground that the apex court was likely to pronounce within a week the judgement in a corruption case in which she and late CM J Jayalalithaa were accused.

The PIL was filed by Chennai resident Senthil Kumar, general secretary of NGO Satta Panchayat Iyakkam, hours after the apex court indicated it could deliver its judgement on the appeals challenging the acquittal of Jayalalithaa and Sasikala in a 19-year-old disproportionate assets case.

The petition is likely to be heard tomorrow morning. Kumar, who mentioned in the plea that he will argue the matter in person, as per PTI.

Kumar has contended that if she was convicted and forced to resign, there was a possibility of riots erupting all over Tamil Nadu.

Case against Sasikala:

Jayalalitha along with her aides Sasikalaa, VN Sudhakaran and J Elavarasi were booked under various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC for amassing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income in 1997.

The trial of the case was shifted by Supreme Court to Bengaluru on a petition filed by a DMK leader and the court there had convicted them on September 27, 2014.

However, the Karnataka High Court had reversed the Special Court's judgment on May 11, 2015.

The Karnataka government had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, which reserved its judgement in June last year.

The apex court had last year, before the demise of Jayalalithaa, reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions challenging the Karnataka HC order of her acquittal.

(With Agency inputs)