India court grants Jayalalithaa bail
A powerful regional politician of southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court today, three weeks after she was jailed for corruption.
Jairam Jayalalithaa, former chief minister of Tamil Nadu and chief All India Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK), was given the relief by the top court bench, headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu, reports our correspondent from New Delhi.
The 66-year-old film actress-turned-politician is lodged in a jail in Bangalore.
Jayalalithaa got the interim bail when she assured the Supreme Court that she would not take any adjournment in the Karnataka High Court and would file paperwork of her appeal within two months.
“We will not give you a day more if you fail to file paperwork within 2 months,” said the Supreme Court.
Jayalalithaa volunteered before the apex court to be kept in confinement in house for 2-3 months while pressing for regular bail.
The apex court bench told senior counsel Fali S Nariman, appearing for Jayalalithaa, that it will not grant a day more to his client if they don't complete the paperwork of their appeal before the high court with all the documents within a span of two months.
The AIADMK leader was convicted and sentenced for four years and fined Rs 100 crore for disproportionately amassing about Rs 66 crore outside her known sources of income.
The former Tamil Nadu chief minister was on October 7 refused bail by the Karnataka High Court which held that there were no grounds for grant of bail to the AIADMK leader.
The court further asked Jayalalithaa to direct her party workers not to create law and order problem in the state.
There had been street protests, often marred by violence, by AIADMK workers and supporters soon after she was convicted in the graft case by a special court in Bangalore, capital of another southern Indian state of Karnataka, on September 27.
Jayalalithaa had moved the Supreme Court seeking bail on account of her age and health. She said she suffers from diabetes, hypertension, cellulitis and other ailments.
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