The Supreme Court today restored the trial court verdict against VK Sasikala and others in the disproportionate assets case.

Justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Amitava Roy in separate judgments set aside the Karnataka government judgment acquitting Jayalalithaa , Sasikala, J. Ilavarasi and V.N. Sudhakaran in the case.

Full text of the verdict

Justices PC Ghose and Amitava Roy concurred in separate verdicts that this is a case reflecting rising corruption in society.

Sasikala, Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran will have to serve remainder of their 4-year sentence and pay Rs 10 crore as per 2014 trial court verdict.

As a result of the conviction, Sasikala will not be able to contest elections for 10 years.

On scrutiny we find A 1 (Jayalalithaa) has expired and so the appeals against her stands abated, Justice PC Ghose said in his order. "Charges against A2 to A4 (Sasikala, Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran) is restored in full with all consequent directions."

The Supreme Court has ordered Sasikala, Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran to surrender before the trial court forthwith.

“Since the charges framed by the trial court have been restored against all of them they will surrender forthwith before the trial court and serve the remaining part of the sentence,” the bench said.

The trial court had sentenced Sasikala and her two relatives to four years imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10 crore each. Jayalalithaa was sentenced to four years with a fine of Rs 100 crore.

The disproportionate assets case, on for over two decades now, has been marked by many twists and turns over the years as the accused repeatedly sought legal remedy for various issues.

Celebration at O Paneerselvam's residence

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AIADMK reacts

Sasikala has always taken Jayalalithaa’s burden on her; she has done it again, AIADMK said in a tweet.

What the verdict means

Today's verdict means the 59-year-old Sasikala is barred from running for any public office for a decade and Panneerselvam is now likely to stay at the helm of the State.

The corruption case dates back to late 1990s when Jayalalithaa and Sasikala were accused of profiting from the chief minister's office and amassing wealth beyond their income.

They were jointly accused of owning several bungalows, luxury cars, tea estates, eight tonnes of silver, nearly 30 kg of gold and thousands of saris which could be not accounted for through their salaries.

Sasikala was running a video parlour and Jayalalithaa was a budding politician when the two met, which marked the beginning of a decades-long friendship dogged by corruption scandals.

Sasikala was briefly expelled from the AIADMK over allegations her family was misusing the Jayalalithaa name, but she was allowed back in after publicly distancing herself from her husband.

In 2014, both women were sentenced to jail for corruption but were acquitted on appeal after serving a brief period behind bars.

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