Tuesday, 30 September 2014 00:01
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DEVELOPMENTS across the Palk Strait carry with it lessons to live by. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was convicted on Saturday by a Bangalore special court in a disproportionate assets case and is now spending her first few days behind bars.
This situation is nothing new to Jayalalithaa, who has fought more than a dozen cases and was acquitted in most of them over the last decade. On 21 September 2001, Jayalalithaa had to step down as Chief Minister following a Supreme Court verdict which struck down her appointment by the then Governor M. Fathima Beevi as she then faced conviction in a land deal case.
The conviction attracted provisions of the Representation of the People Act, which disqualified her from contesting elections. The sentencing in the TANSI land deal case by a Chennai special court on 9 October 2000 barred her from contesting election in 2001, though she was later acquitted by the Madras High Court, a verdict upheld by the Supreme Court in November 2003.
Undeterred, she returned to power and is doing battle once again. When Jayalalithaa’s tried and trusted political lieutenant O. Panneerselvam took oaths as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on Monday, his first task was clear: To “move heaven and earth” to secure bail for his party supremo currently lodged in a Bangalore prison.
Indian media reported the party’s legal team was doing everything possible to get the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court to convene a special bench to hear Jayalalithaa’s bail petition in HC this week. Noted lawyer and former Union Law Minister Ram Jethmalani is likely to appear on behalf of Jaya in HC. As an immediate relief, Jaya will first seek bail, which will be followed by an appeal against the judgment.
In Chennai, a team of glum-faced party officials signed on the dotted line at a meeting in the party HQ on Sunday evening, electing Finance Minister Panneerselvam as the legislative party leader. If she is unable to carve her way out of the legal wrangles, Jayalalithaa might have to sit out of elections for the better part of 10 years, effectively ending her political career.
Given that there is no love lost between Colombo and the fiery Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, the Government will in all likelihood be happy about her removal, even if it is temporary – as it well might be. However, none can deny that as flawed as the justice system in India is, it functions much more independently than its local counterpart.
Sri Lanka, despite its multitude of corrupt officials, is yet to name and shame any of them in a court of law. From the executive presidency, which effectively gives a free pass to the highest elected leader of the land, to party hangers-on and even those who are allowed post-election violence, a culture of impunity shrouds governance in Sri Lanka. Hence, while they may not be perfect, the capacity for a court of law to convict and jail a powerful Chief Minister in India has to be viewed with some degree of awe.
Despite having to hand over her powers, Jayalalithaa will remain very much in the limelight and her party will continue to be vociferous over Tamil rights in Sri Lanka. So any hope in that quarter would be very short-lived for the Sri Lankan Government.
