Sasikala May Be Released from Jail by End of September On Grounds of Good Behaviour, Says Her Lawyer

Sasikala, personal aide of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, may be released from jail by September end, provided the Parappana Agrahara prison officials grant an ordinary remission on grounds of her good behaviour during her term, her lawyer Raja Senthoor Pandian said on Friday.

The prospect of Sasikala’s return to the political battleground is a contentious one. Just ahead of her imprisonment in the turbulent times around February 2017, she had installed Edappadi Palaniswami, who was then one among the many Amma loyalists, as chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Palaniswami had, subsequently, cut off ties with Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran, and joined hands with the BJP for elections. Her return, just ahead of the 2021 state elections, would be a much-watched political event.

Speaking to News 18, Raja Senthoor Pandian said, “According to the jail manual, those booked under Prevention of Corruption Act can be given a reduction of 36 days per year. This rule is for any prisoner. So, considering that Januray 27, 2021 is when she is scheduled to be released as she compeltes her four-year prison term, she is eligible for 129-day exemption.”

However, it is significant that Sasikala’s prison term was mired by controversy once as D Roopa, Deputy Inspector General (prisons) at the Parappana Agrahara jail, had sent a report to her boss, detailing special priveleges arranged for Sasikala. The report, Roopa’s subsequent transfer and her vindication several months later have made Sasikala’s prison term a chequered one.

This week, the Income Tax department had attached properties of a company in which Sasikala is a shareholder. Among the properties is a new, large house that Sasikala is building in Poes Garden, the area of residence of Jayalalithaa.

The release of Sasikala would also be a development that the DMK, which has been lying in wait to come to power for close to a decade now, will use in order to strengthen its attack on the ruling AIADMK.