VK Sasikala's release has made Tamil Nadu nervous, ever since it came back up for debate. The politician's hiatus from the scene may not be for long as some might have imagined. However, now with possibilities of her release lingering on 2021, Sasikala herself has requested prison officials not to give the information to 'third parties'.
The politicians had been arrested in a disproportionate assets case following Jayalalithaa's death in 2017. Then the question of her release had seemed far away.
Sasikala writes to prison officials
The conversation around Sasikala's release emerged again when an RTI query was filed asking for details of the arrest. At the time Bengaluru's Central Prison had written a letter early in September stating, "As per prison records, convict prisoner number 9234 Sasikala's 'probable date of release' is 27-01-2021, provided the in-default fine amount is paid as awarded by the Honourable court. Further her 'probable date of release' would be 27-02-2022 if the fine is not paid."
This came as news to many, who had till then been debating when Sasikala would be out of prison. Despite the conditions of her release, this has created some ripples in political circles.
The politician has now written to prison officials asking that such details not be divulged to third parties on any grounds. She said that releasing such information was an invasion of her privacy. She believes that third parties were trying to get to know this information to prevent and obstruct her lawful release.
There have been several such applications under RTI regarding Sasikala's release, in her letter she invoked the 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act which prohibits personal information which has doesn't have anything to do with issues of public interest can't be provided by the public information officer.
As the question mark still lingers around Sasikala's release date, politics in Tamil Nadu will have to ready itself for a re-entry.
