Disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa
Jayalalithaa
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| Date | 14 June 1996 |
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| Location | Chennai |
| Also known as | DA Case |
| Participants | J. Jayalalithaa, Sasikala Natarajan, Ilavarasi, V. N. Sudhakaran |
| Outcome | Imprisonment and fine |
| Charges | Misuse of office, Disproportionate assets, Criminal conspiracy, Corruption |
| Verdict | Supreme Court: Trial court verdict restored. High Court: Acquitted of all charges, bail bonds discharged. Trial Court: 4 years simple imprisonment for all four, a fine of ₹100 crore for Jayalalithaa and ₹10 crores for the other three |
| Convictions | Supreme Court: 3; High Court: none; Trial Court: 4. |
| Litigation | 18 years |
Jayalalithaa Jayaram (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016), commonly referred to as Jayalalithaa, was an Indian politician who was the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. She was initially convicted for misusing her office during her tenure of 1991-96. Some of the allegations involved spending on her foster son's lavish marriage in 1996 and her acquisition of properties worth more than ₹66.65 crore (equivalent to ₹255 crore or US$40 million in 2016), as well as jewellery, cash deposits, investments and a fleet of luxury cars. This was the first case where a ruling chief minister had to step down on account of a court sentence. Ultimately, in May 2015, her conviction was overturned, she was acquitted of all charges, and she then died before the Supreme Court of India reviewed the case in 2017.
The trial lasted 18 years and was transferred to Bangalore from Chennai. A judgement on 27 September 2014 in the Special Court convicted all of the accused — namely Jayalalithaa, Sasikala Natarajan, Ilavarasi and V. N. Sudhakaran — and sentenced them to four years simple imprisonment. Jayalalithaa was fined ₹100 crore (equivalent to ₹112 crore or US$17 million in 2016) and the other three were fined ₹10 crore (equivalent to ₹11 crore or US$1.7 million in 2016) each. She was convicted for the third time and was forced to step down from the Chief Minister's office for a second time. She was also the seventh politician and the first Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the state, and the third nationally, to be disqualified after the Supreme Court judgement in 2014 on the Representation of the People Act that prevents convicted politicians from holding office.
In May 2015, the Karnataka High Court overturned the trial court's verdict, acquitting those accused of all charges. This paved the way for Jayalalithaa's return to power as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on 23 May 2015.
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