The political fate of AIADMK leader and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa will be decided at 11 am on Monday when Justice CR Kumaraswamy of the Karnataka High Court delivers the verdict on her appeal against conviction on corruption charges.

On September 27, 2014, a Special Court in Bangalore found her and three of her associates guilty of amassing an estimated ₹66 crore during her tenure as Chief Minister between 1991 and 1996. On being convicted, Jayalalithaa stepped down as chief minister and her cabinet colleague O Panneerselvam took over two days later. The Karnataka High Court refused her bail and Jayalalithaa spent 20 days in prison before getting relief from the Supreme Court.

In the present case, she was convicted under the Prevention of Corruption Act and sentenced to four years simple imprisonment and slapped with a fine of ₹100 crore. The other accused, including her confidante Sasikala Natarajan and Sasikala’s relatives VN Sudhakaran and J Elavarasi, were also found guilty and sentenced to four years simple imprisonment and fined ₹10 crore each.

Opposition parties have accused the AIADMK government of going into a stupor. The State Budget session for 2015-16 was a truncated affair, lasting only a week. Even the Global Investment Meet, an event to showcase the State as an investment destination, was put off twice.

First scheduled for October 2014, it was postponed following her conviction a month earlier. It was then rescheduled to May 2015 and again put off to September. Following the verdict last year, the entire State went into turmoil and violence broke out across Tamil Nadu.

The Cabinet went into mourning; the ministers shed tears even as they were sworn in again as part of a new cabinet under Panneerselvam.

Since then, they have vied to demonstrate their loyalty to ‘Amma’, as Jayalalithaa is popularly known, by organising temple functions and poojas for her release.

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