Court upholds Jaya acquittal

Hundreds of supporters of powerful southern Indian politician Jayalalitha Jayaram danced in the streets yesterday and lit firecrackers after the country's highest court upheld the Tamil Nadu chief minister's acquittal on bribery charges.

"It is all the will of God; Thanks be to God" said a beaming Jaya immediately after her acquittal by the Supreme Court in the Tamil Nadu Small Industries (TANSI) land cases.

Supreme Court Judges S. Rajendra Babu and P. V. Reddi said yesterday there was no legal evidence to prove Jaya's guilt.

The case related to the purchase of land belonging to the Tamil Nadu Small Industries Corporation and the TANSI Enamel Wire unit by Sasi Enterprises in which Jaya and her friend Sasikala were sole partners. At the time Jaya was chief minister.

The Supreme Court in New Delhi upheld a 2001 Madras High Court order that acquitted Jaya of charges that she sold government land cheaply to herself and to colleagues and accepted bribes from businessmen to approve the illegal construction of a hotel. The allegations surfaced while she was the state's chief minister from 1991 to 1996.

The prosecution contended that by buying state property, Jaya had abused her official position and violated an order that prohibited ministers from purchasing government property.
A special court convicted her and five others on corruption cases and sentenced them to three and two years imprisonment.

Jaya was removed from her post and disqualified on these grounds from fighting elections. She appealed to the Madras High Court. The High Court acquitted her. Thereafter she successfully contested the assembly election and was elected Chief Minister of the state, heading her All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party.

Last year DMK legal wing secretary Sai Bharathi and Subramanian Swamy went to the Supreme Court against the Madras High Court's acquittal. Hearing in the case ended in September last year. The judgement was pending. Jaya drove to a local temple for thanksgiving. In the evening a triumphant Jaya drove to the airport to receive Prime Minister Vajpayee who made a flying visit to attend the funeral of DMK Central Minister Murasoli Maran who died in Chennai on Sunday night.

This is the first time that Jaya has been on hand to welcome Vajpayee, whom she had not met in the state capital on several occasions in the past.

Asked about the transfer of the Disproportionate Wealth case to Karnataka and about the apex court's order to attend in person, Jaya said that this was an order under Section 311 which required her presence for cross examination. A visibly happy Jay said she had nothing more to say for the present.

Despite her blemished image, Jaya has a huge fan following from her days as a film star. She appeared in more than 100 movies before entering politics in the late 1980s. A police raid of her house during corruption investigations in 1996 revealed her collection of thousands of silk saris – a traditional garment worn by Indian women – massive amounts of gold and jewellery and some 1,000 pairs of shoes.

There are still seven other corruption cases against Jaya being heard by local courts, including two cases of amassing wealth disproportionate to her income, but yesterday's Supreme Court ruling was critical to the chief minister's remaining in office.