Justice HL Dattu led Supreme Court bench has scheduled the hearing date for AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa's bail plea and petition challenging the sentence in disproportionate assets case on Friday, 17 October.
Senior advocates Fali S Nariman and Sushil Kumar appealed the SC for urgent hearing on her bail and also on suspension of her sentence of four years in jail along with a fine of ₹100 crore. Along with Jayalalithaa, SC will hear pleas of Sasikala Natarajan and her relatives V Sudhakaran and J Elavarasi, The Hindu reported.
For Jayalalithaa, the bail has been sounght on medical grounds and her old age, according to reports.
Jayaalithaa, 66, underwent a brief medical check-up on the third day of her jail term. Being diabetic, she had complained of blurry eyesight and uneasiness. However, she has reportedly been spending rest of her days in Bangalore Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in good health.
The former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, who will be spending her thirteenth day in jail on 10 October, was denied bail on Tuesday by Karnataka High Court judge Justice A V Chandrashekhar, who noted that the reasons cited in the plea were baseless.
Justice Chandrashekhar had also cited Supreme Court's stance on corruption, while denying bail to Jayalalithaa.
"In view of clear observation of the apex court that corruption is a violation of human rights this is not a fit case for suspension and bail. Bail plea is liable to be dismissed," he had said.
After three failed attempts to secure bail, Jayalalithaa is yet again trying her luck, but this time in the apex court. The Supreme Court had strictly maintained its observations on corruption, and hence is unlikely to go against its own stance against corrupt ministers.
Jayalalithaa was sentenced to four-year jail term and has been slapped with a fine of ₹100 crore for accumulating disproportionate assets worth ₹66.65 crore.
The Karnataka High Court had also rejected the bail petition of Jayalalithaa's aide Sasikala and her relatives Sudhakaran and Elavarasi.
