Panel probing former Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa's death to question Sasikala

Arumugasamy commission probing former Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa's death has decided to question her close aide Sasikala.

It has written to the Karnataka Prisons Department and Home Secretary of Tamil Nadu government to seek permission to question Sasikala.

The commission will record Sasikala's statement in person. The commission had already inquired almost 130 people in last one year.

On February 14, 2017, the Supreme Court upheld Sasikala's conviction in a 21-year-old corruption case and ordered her to surrender forthwith and serve the remaining part of her four-year jail term in the Disproportionate  Assets case.

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In addition to serving the jail term, the verdict meant that Sasikala, who was harbouring ambitions of becoming the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister at the time, would not be allowed to contest for the next 10 years.

She has been one of the most high profile prisoners of Bengaluru's Parappana Agrahara jail and has been lodged there since February,

In an expose, it was revealed that she been given special privileges in Bengaluru jail. The papers show that she had 32 visitors in the past four months while serving her term, whereas as per the rules, a prisoner is only allowed two per month. Her visitors included family and party workers, the current Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker and also sitting ministers in the Tamil Nadu government.

WATCH | Privileges Enjoyed By Sasikala In Prison

The 10-page report earlier accessed by Republic World, has indicated that a special kitchen has been built for Sasikala, a high profile prisoner of Bengaluru's Parappana Agrahara Jail since February 2017. It also accuses top prison officials of being well aware of the violations and deliberately ignoring them in lieu of financial incentives.  

The Madras High Court had recently upheld the disqualification of 18 AIADMK MLAs by Speaker P Dhanapal for revolting against Chief Minister K Palaniswami in August 2017, prompting bypolls there. The MLAs belonged to Sasikala's nephew TTV Dinakaran's who floated the rebel party Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK).

Earlier in September 2017, all the 18 MLAs revolted against Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palaniswami and were subsequently disqualified by the speaker Dhanapal. The MLAs moved the High Court challenging their disqualification. In April this year, the court delivered a split verdict.