The Supreme Court on Friday extended the bail granted to former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa in a disproportionate assets case in which she was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison by a trial court. The apex court granted the relief till the disposal of her appeal before the Karnataka high court.
The Special Court had held the former chief minister and three others guilty of corruption. The court had also slapped a fine of Rs 100 crore on the AIADMK chief and Rs 10 crore fine on each of the three other convicts.
A bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu also allowed the Karnataka high court registry’s plea, which had filed an application on behalf of the judge hearing the appeal, seeking extension of the deadline from April 18 to May 12 for disposal of the appeal. It also gave liberty to the high court judge to seek further extension of time for delivering the judgement as a matter related to the removal of the special public prosecutor is pending before its larger bench.The apex court on April 15 had given a split verdict on the issue and the matter has been referred for hearing before a three judge bench on April 21.
The apex court had in October stayed the sentence and warned Jayalalithaa against causing any delay by seeking adjournment in her appeal in the HC. It also granted bail to Jayalalithaa’s close aide Sasikala and her relatives.