BENGALURU: The parole application of outsted AIADMK leader Sasikala Natarajan, who is lodged at the Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara here in connection with a disproportionate assets case, is still being examined, according to jail authorities.
Sasikala has sought parole to visit her ailing husband Natarajan, who just underwent a double organ transplant. Parappana Agrahara prison Superintendent Somashekar said there is still some verification to be done. When questioned about media reports that said her application had been rejected, he said that it was far from truth as the department was still examining a few issues.
“We wanted clearance from the courts in Tamil Nadu, which we have got on Wednesday,” he said. However he did not elaborate on the verification being done. On Wednesday, Sasikala’s followers from Chennai, Hosur and other places were waiting outside Bengaluru Central Prison hoping she will be released on parole. Around 100 people, including lawyers from Tamil Nadu, were waiting till evening and left the place around 10 pm.
A senior officer in the Prisons Department said no decision has been taken on the application. Sasikala, a long-time associate of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, was sentenced by the Supreme Court to four years in prison for amassing wealth disproportionate to her known source of income. The Karnataka High Court had set aside the special court order and acquitted Jayalalithaa and others in 2015. The Karnataka government then appealed against the order in the Supreme Court. After the death of Jayalalithaa, the apex court upheld the trial court order and quashed the High Court order.