Sasikala breaks down while addressing MLAs, says 'no force can separate me from AIADMK'

Supreme Court on Tuesday dashed Sasikala's ambition to become the Tamil Nadu CM.

Pic courtesy: ANI

Chennai: Hours after being convicted in a corruption case by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, which dashed her ambition to become the Tamil Nadu CM, Sasikala said that no force could separate her from AIADMK.

Addressing the party MLAs, she broke down and said, "no force can separate me from AIADMK, no matter where I'll be, I'll always think about party."

"I feel so satisfied that despite facing troubles, MLAs are supporting me. I’m sure we’ll get the invitation as soon as possible as we remained quiet," she added. 

Sasikala further said, "Case (DA) was filed by DMK, I’ll handle this. You (MLAs) have to remain resolute and make sure people question DMK’s existence," as per ANI.

The verdict by the apex court today held her guilty of entering into a conspiracy with late AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa.

The apex court judgement, delivered at a time when the state is witnessing a bitter power struggle in the aftermath of Jayalalithaa's demise, set aside the Karnataka High Court order acquitting all the four accused and "restored in toto" the trial court's decision in the 19-year-old disproportionate assets case.

60-year-old Sasikala will now have to serve a jail term of around three-and-half years out of four years awarded by the trial court as she has already undergone almost six months in prison.

The special trial court had found disproportionate assets worth Rs 53.60 crore, which Jayalalithaa and the three others could not account for. The CBI had alleged that the unaccounted wealth was in the tune of Rs 66.65 crore.

The top court directed Sasikala and her two relatives - VN Sudhakaran, Jayalalithaa's foster son, and Elavarasi, widow of Sasikala's elder brother, to "forthwith surrender" before the Bengaluru's trial court which will "take immediate steps" to ensure that all the three "serve out the remainder of sentence awarded to them and take further steps in compliance of this judgement, in accordance with law," as per PTI.

Sasikala, the close aid and shadow of Jayalalithaa for almost three decades, was locked in a power struggle for the top post with acting CM O Panneerselvam, who was today sacked from AIADMK's primary membership.

She had been in the jail in 1996 when the case was registered and later in 2014 after the Special trial court convicted and awarded a four-year sentence with a fine of Rs 10 crore. Jayalalithaa was then awarded four-year jail term, besides a fine of Rs 100 crore.

The apex court, which abated the proceedings against Jayalalithaa who breathed her last on December 5 last year, held that the criminal conspiracy was hatched at her Poes Garden residence in Chennai.

The main judgement was authored by Justice Ghose, but Justice Roy who chose to supplement the concurrent findings, said the case demonstrated a deep-rooted conspiracy to amass vast assets through shell entities and deceive the process of law.

The bench, which heard the arguments between February 23 to June 7 last year, held that the judgement of the High Court was "untenable" as it had wrongly calculated the disproportionate assets of the accused persons who were operating 34 companies during the "check-in" period, starting July 1991 till April 1996 when Jayalalithaa was the CM.

(With Agency inputs)