Sasikala seeks remission, early release from jail

Late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s close aide V K Sasikala, serving a four-year jail term on graft charges, has sought remission and early release from prison, official sources said on Wednesday.

Sasikala, lodged at the Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru, is expected to come out on January 27, 2021, after she deposited ₹10 crore fine at a special court. However, she has applied for remission of her jail term to come out early, PTI reported.

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The prison authorities have forwarded her application to higher officials. “She has applied for remission of her jail term and it has been forwarded to the head of the department for their consideration,” a source said.

Authorities are yet to take a call on it.

After the Supreme Court restored the trial court judgment in toto against Sasikala and two of her close relatives in the disproportionate assets case, she surrendered before the court in Karnataka on February 15, 2017, and has been lodged in Parappana Agrahara Central Jail since then. Her two relatives are also undergoing four years’ simple imprisonment and all three of them were slapped with a fine of ₹10 crore each.

With the death of Jayalalithaa in 2016, who was the first accused in the case, the appeal by Karnataka against her stood abated.

As per norms, three days of remission for good conduct is available for every month in jail and, so far, Sasikala has completed 43 months, making her eligible for a reduction of 135 days in prison. “As per the Karnataka Prison Manual, I strongly believe that she will be released by the month end (November),” her advocate N Raja Senthoor Pandian had earlier said. When the remission of 129 days is applied, the release will be by November end and not the previously expected date of January 2021, he had said.

Sasikala has already spent a total of 35 days in jail in 1997 and 2014 and availed a 17 day parole in 2017, which is deducted from the period she already served, he had said.