Former chief minister Jayalalithaa was accused of illegally amassing property, gold and cash during her first stint as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Sasikala, who had been her aide was accused of abetment and criminal conspiracy.
The trial was shifted to a special court in Karnataka from Tamil Nadu because there were fears that Jayalalithaa, who was in power, could wield undue influence.
The trial court had dealt with six companies – Indo Doha Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd, Signora Enterprises Pvt. Ltd, Meadow Agro Farms Pvt Ltd, Riverway Agro Products Pvt Ltd, Lex Property Developments Pvt Ltd and Ramraj Agro Mills Ltd. The prosecution’s case was that these companies were being operated for and on behalf of late Jayalalitha.
Karnataka’s counsel, Siddharth Luthra, had told the court that money was channeled into these companies which brought real estate and all these deals took place in Jayalalitha’s residence. They filed delayed income tax returns and did not conduct business for many years since inception.
Jayalalitha’s counsel had argued that acquiring assets was not a crime unless the official could not account for its source.
In 2014, Jayalalithaa, Sasikala and two other relatives were sentenced to 4 years in jail and a fine of Rs. 100 crore by a special court in Bengaluru. They were arrested and imprisoned in a jail in Bengaluru.
In 2015, the Karnataka High acquitted all. The court had held that the charges against them was not sustainable. The High Court's verdict paved her way back as the chief minister.
The Karnataka government then challenged the acquittal in the Supreme Court by saing there were mathematical errors in calculating the assets by the High Court, which Jayalalithaa countered. After hearing the arguments till June, the Supreme Court had reserved its verdict.