Colour TV scam
| Date | 14 May 1998 |
|---|---|
| Location | Chennai |
| Participants | Jayalalithaa, Sasikala Natarajan, T. M. Selvaganapathy |
| Charges | Misuse of office, Corruption, Criminal conspiracy |
| Verdict | High Court: Acquitted of all charges for all Trial Court: Jayalalitha, Sasikala acquitted; Five year imprisonment for seven others including Selvaganapathy |
| Litigation | 11 years |
Colour TV case was a sensational case against Jayalalithaa, the Late Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, a state in South India during 1991-96. Jayalalitha, her aide Sasikala Natarajan and her ministerial colleague, T. M. Selvaganapathy, were charged of misusing office to buy colour televisions at a higher price than quoted and receiving kickbacks to the tune of ₹10.16 crores. Jayalalitha, Sasikala and the seven others were arrested and remanded to judicial custody on 7 December 1998. The case and chargesheet were filed during the following DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) government headed by Karunanidhi in 1998. On 30 May 2000, Jayalalitha and Sasikala were acquitted, while T. M. Selvaganapathy and six others were convicted in the lower court, which sentenced them to five year rigorous imprisonment with a fine of ₹10,000. It was one of the first instances where an ex-chief minister was arrested and sent to jail. It was also one of the earliest instance when a Member of Parliament was convicted in a corruption case. Selvaganapathy was a MP in Lok Sabha during the time of verdict.
The Madras High Court acquitted her and other all convicted in the case of all the charges on 4 December 2001.
Jayalalithaa Jayaram (24 February 1948-5 December 2016), commonly referred to as Jayalalithaa, was an Indian politician and three time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu during various times from 1991–96, 2002–06 and 2011–14, 2015- 2016 from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party. There were irregularities during her first tenure as Chief minister during 1991-96 for the purchase of 45,000 colour television sets to village panchayats to the tune of 10.16 Cr. The ruling DMK government (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) government headed by Karunanidhi filed the case in 1996 and chargesheet in 1998. Jayalalitha was arrested on 7 December 1996 and was remanded to judicial custody in connection with the case. The investigation alleged that the amount through the TV dealers were routed in the form of cheques to a relative of Sasikala, who had quoted Jayalalitha's residence as hers. She earlier filed an anticipatory bail in the trail court, which was rejected on 7 December 1996. There were as many as 2,500 party men gathered around her residence to block her arrest, in spite of the cordon set by the Tamil Nadu Police.
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