AIADMK leader VK Sasikala, who is serving a four-year jail term in the central prison Parappana Agahara, seems to have taken a dim view of prison rules. Sasikala has openly flouted the jail policies by meeting 28 visitors on 14 occasions in 31 days.
According to Karnataka Prison Manual (KPM) and the Karnataka Prison Rules (KPR), a prisoner is allowed to meet his or her friends, relatives and advocates at the prison only once in 15 days under the watchful eye of a prison official.
Meanwhile, Sasikala had 28 visitors from February 16 to March 18 with each person spending over 40 minutes with her. According to Times of India, prison sources said the meetings were sanctioned by higher-ups. Visitors were allowed to talk to her in a special area, often in private, they said. The rising number of her visitors in the backdrop of RK Nagar elections has raised many eyebrows.
AIADMK's deputy general secretary, TTV Dinakaran, who is contesting in the R K Nagar bypoll had reportedly visited Sasikala. According to prison records, Sasikala met her nephew, Dinakaran, twice— once on February 20 and also on March 8 and each interaction lasted over 45 minutes.
Times of India has quoted sources saying while other prisoners are not allowed to spend more than 10 minutes with the visitors, many relatives of Sasikala, including nephews Vivek Jayaraman and K. Karthikeyan, as well as her advocates have met her with ease. Deputy speaker of Lok Sabha M Thambidurai, an MLC from Andhra Pradesh and other party members have also visited her.
