Jailed Jayalalithaa to move Karnataka HC tomorrow seeking bail and stay on conviction

Bangalore: Lawyers for jailed AIADMK supreme, J Jayalalithaa will move the Karnataka High Court on Monday for bail for her while they were also finalising a strategy for seeking a stay on her conviction and sentence in the disproportionate assets case.

"We will be filing a bail application in the Karnataka High Court tomorrow," B Kumar, Senior Counsel for the 66-year-old leader, said, a day after a Special court sentenced her to four years in jail that immediately disqualified her from being an MLA.

But it may be taken up only on Tuesday when there is a scheduled hearing by a vacation bench because the high court will observe holidays from September 29 to August 6 for Dasara.

A battery of lawyers were giving final touches to their legal strategy in seeking immediate relief for Jayalalithaa, who has been convicted by Special Judge John Michael D'Cunha and sentenced to four years imprisonment in the Rs 66.65 crore disproportionate assets case.

Read: Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa’s conviction: Legally down but not politically out

Since the sentencing was for a period more than three years, only the high court can grant bail in Jayalalithaa's case.

Kumar said a team of lawyers were holding discussions on filing a petition seeking stay of conviction and also the sentence awarded to Jayalalithaa in the 18-year old case.

The criminal revision petition is one of the options before the lawyers who would like to secure an immediate stay on the conviction and the sentencing.

A stay on the conviction, which superior courts are said to be normally reluctant to grant in a corruption case, would nullify the disqualification as MLA, which the AIADMK leader has suffered with yesterday's judgement.

Read: After Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s conviction, who will take over next?

Unless the conviction is overturned by a superior court, Jayalalithaa runs the risk of being barred from contesting elections for 10 years -- four years when she is in jail and six years after release.

Under a Supreme Court judgement of last year, any MLA or MP would stand automatically disqualified if he or she is convicted and sentenced to an imprisonment of a period not less than two years.

Before this judgement, Section 8(4) of the Representation of People Act, which was stuck down by the Supreme Court, protected an elected representative from disqualification if they appeal before a higher court within three months.

In a rare case, the Supreme Court had stayed the conviction by the Punjab and Haryana High Court of culpable homicide in a case involving former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu.

The advocates representing Jayalalithaa have secured the copy of the judgement delivered by the special Court on Saturday, which also imposed a staggering fine of Rs 100 crores.

Read: Jayalalithaa verdict: Self-immolation bids, violence rock state

Jayalalithaa held crisis talks inside jail on Sunday after her conviction.

Jayalalithaa, 66, who enjoys a cult following in Tamil Nadu that she has long governed, dismissed the charges, saying the case is politically motivated.

She spent the night in a cell in Bangalore's main jail in a extraordinary transformation of fortunes for the woman known as "Amma" (Mother) to her fans, whose ministers have been known to prostrate themselves before her.

Jayalalithaa met in jail with a group of senior lawmakers and AIADMK leaders about choosing a new chief minister, a party official said.

Read: Verdict not final: AIADMK allies

"As our supremo, Jayalalithaa has advised cabinet colleagues and party leaders to convene a meeting of all lawmakers in Chennai later in the day and elect a leader to serve as our chief minister," the AIADMK leader said.

"Jayalalithaa wants a new leader to take over at the earliest for continuation of administration and to assuage the hurt feelings of lawmakers and thousands of party cadres across the state over the verdict," said the leader, who did not want to be named.

Jayalalithaa was still expected to play a key role from behind bars in running Tamil Nadu as well as the AIADMK, the third biggest force in the national parliament.

750 pairs of shoes seized

Jayalalithaa was charged in 1997, when police seized assets including 28 kilos of gold, 750 pairs of shoes and more than 10,000 saris in a raid on her home in Chennai.

Prosecutors said her assets, which reportedly included two 1,000-acre estates in Tamil Nadu, were vastly disproportionate to her earnings during her first term as chief minister from 1991 to 1996.

Read: Jaya sentenced to 4 years imprisonment in disproportionate assets case, fined Rs 100 crores

Protests broke out Saturday in Chennai and Bangalore, with supporters burning several buses and attacking media crews.

But some commentators hailed the verdict, saying it proved India's notoriously slow legal system could still eventually bring justice -- even to top politicians.

From lowly officials to top ministers, corruption is endemic in India. Voters threw out the previous national government in May, incensed over graft scandals that plagued its last years in power.