E-Paper
Expelled AIADMK leader Sasikala to be released from prison tomorrow, decision on hospital discharge later
Sasikala was sentenced to four-year imprisonment in February 2017 in the ₹66 crore disproportionate assets case along with her sister-in-law J Ilavarasi and former Tamil Nadu chief minister late Jayalalithaa's foster son VN Sudhakaran.
VK Sasikala, the 66-year-old expelled leader of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), will be released from prison in Bengaluru on Wednesday after completing her four-year jail term in a corruption case.
"All the formalities pertaining to her release will be completed tomorrow at the hospital itself," a prison official told news agency PTI on Tuesday.
However, her treatment for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) will continue. The former aide of late Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalitha was admitted to the hospital on January 20 after she displayed signs of breathlessness which was later diagnosed as Covid-19.
Victoria hospital, where she is being treated, said Sasikala is “conscious, alert and well oriented.”
Her release comes at a time when Tamil Nadu is preparing for assembly elections in which her former party AIADMK takes on the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
Sasikala’s nephew TTV Dhinakaran started the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) to remain relevant within the high-decibel Tamil Nadu political climate.
Dhinakaran had said on Monday that a decision on whether his aunt will be discharged from the hospital will be taken after consulting the doctors.
Sasikala was sentenced to four-year imprisonment in February 2017 in the ₹66 crore disproportionate assets case along with her sister-in-law J Ilavarasi and Jayalalithaa's foster son VN Sudhakaran.
In 2019, the income tax department had attached properties worth ₹1,600 crore belonging to the former AIADMK leader under the provisions of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act.
