Verdict dashes Bharat Ratna hopes for Jayalalithaa

Tims of India

CHENNAI: The question of whether a public memorial can be constructed for a convicted person is being raised by many with the Supreme Court upholding the special court order in the Rs 66.65 crore disproportionate assets caseagainst former chief minister J Jayalalithaa and three others.

Going by technicalities, the case against Jayalalithaa has been abated because of her death on December 5, 2016, but the apex court has not acquitted her or pronounced her not guilty. The Rs 100 crore fine imposed on Jayalalithaa stands good. Can she be conferred with Bharat Ratna as is being demanded by the AIADMK? The Centre would not heed to the demand, said legal experts and members of civil society.

They are of the opinion that a person convicted in a disproportionate assets case should not have a public memorial too. Sasikala had said recently that a memorial for Jayalalithaa would be constructed at her place of rest on the Marina. But there is no ban on the AIADMK converting her Poes Garden residence, Veda Nilayam, into a memorial, as announced by chief minister O Panneerselvam.

"If Jayalalithaa was alive, she could have faced the sentence. So death doesn't change one's wrong into right. It's unfair to convert the Poes Garden as a memorial for Jayalalithaa," said K Vedachalam, a retired history professor.

Tamil novelist Imayam had a different view. Poes Garden has now become a house of shame for the Tamils, he said. "It's all part of a political game. O Panneerselvam wants to score some political mileage. Both Jayalalithaa and Sasikala have done enough harm to Tamils. Why should a house of shame (Poes Garden) be converted into a memorial for a corrupt person," he asked.

But S Krishnamurhty, an architect, felt there was nothing wrong in converting her house in Poes Garden into a memorial for Jayalalithaa. "It's Jayalalithaa's personal property. Whether she is corrupt or not is not the point. It's an emotional issue. There is nothing wrong in making it a memorial. The party should take initiative," he said.