M A I N   N E W S

Jaya convicted in hotel case
From A. Balu

CHENNAI, Feb 2 — The AIADMK leader, Ms Jayalalitha, was today convicted by a special court on corruption charges in the Kodaikanal Pleasant Stay Hotel case and sentenced to one year’s rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2000. The verdict immediately sparked off a minor riot by her party supporters outside the court premises and dharnas in some other parts of the city.

The Special Judge, Mr V. Radhakrishnan, who delivered the judgement, suspended the sentence till March 3 to allow Ms Jayalalitha to appeal against his decision. As she came out of the court, looking downcast, she told reporters that she would file an appeal in the high court. She refused to answer any other questions concerning the verdict.

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Smashed windscreens of state-owned buses testify to the fury of AIADMK supporters, who stoned the vehicles to protest a special court verdict convicting their leader Jayalalitha's in a corruption case in Chennai on Wednesday. — PTI

AIADMK members shouting slogans and blocking traffic near the Special Court Complex in Chennai on Wednesday to protest a special court verdict convicting their leader Jayalalitha's in a corruption case in Chennai on Wednesday. — PTI

It was the first conviction for her in the series of corruption cases the state government had filed against her. Recently, the Chennai High Court had discharged her in two other cases — the coal import case and the Tansi land deal. Today’s verdict is a setback to the AIADMK leader as she prepares for a two-week campaign tour in connection with the by-elections to three state assembly seats slated for February 17.

For the DMK, which is the main opponent of the AIADMK in the by-elections, the special court verdict will be a handy tool to be used against Ms Jayalalitha and her party during the campaign. The Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi, reacting to the special court’s decision, said it should serve as a “lesson” for those in power who indulged in corruption or planned to indulge in scams. The people of the state had given their verdict in this regard in the 1996 assembly elections, and the state government was only following up that verdict while filing corruption cases in the courts, he said.

The rampage by AIADMK workers, including many women, resulted in damage to six state transport buses. The police resorted to a lathi charge to control the angry slogan-shouting crowd, and as a result several persons received injuries. The police also arrested a number of demonstrators.

Along with Ms Jayalalitha, former Local Administration Minister and a sitting AIADMK MP, Mr T.M. Selvaganapathy, was sentenced on three counts to one year’s RI and a fine of Rs 3000. An IAS officer, Mr H.M. Pandey, was given a one year’s sentence and a fine of Rs 2000. A Pleasant Stay Hotel executive, and administrative officer, Mr Palani Shanmugam, also received similar sentences. All sentences were suspended and the accused were freed on a bond of Rs 5000 each. The judge ordered that the sentences on different counts would run concurrently.

The 52-year-old Ms Jayalalitha, often compared to Imelda Marcos, wife of the former Philippines President, who had been charged with accumulation of illegal wealth, was found guilty by the Special Judge of the prosecution charge that as chief minister she had allowed a seven-storeyed hotel to come up in the hill resort of Kodaikanal in gross violation of building laws applicable to hill areas, which allow only two storeys. The prosecution had alleged that the accused had shown special favour to Pleasant Stay Hotel in return for monetary benefits. The charge sheet was filed on September 22, 1997, in the special court. Around 70 witnesses were examined in the case.

DHARMAPURI (UNI): Three college girls were burnt alive and five others severely injured when angry AIADMK party men torched a Coimbatore Agriculture College bus at Bharatipuram near here on Wednesday.

District Superintendent of Police Kandasamy said the AIADMK workers, enraged by the conviction of their party supremo J. Jayalalitha in the Pleasant Stay Hotel case, waylaid the bus and set it on fire.

Tension gripped the district following the incident.

The injured were admitted to the government hospital here. There were 47 students in the bus.

The party workers also set fire to a state-owned bus at Harur in the district.