Sasikala can’t contest polls till 2027

Sasikala can’t contest polls till 2027

01/02/2021

Mohamed Imranullah S. CHENNAI

Former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s close aide V.K. Sasikala, who got released from prison recently after serving a four-year sentence in a disproportionate assets case, can neither contest an Assembly election nor a Parliamentary election till January 27, 2027, though there is no legal bar on her leading a party.

Section 8 of the Representation of the People (RoP) Act of 1951 lists instances where a person will suffer disqualification from contesting elections if he/she gets convicted for certain offences. Section 8(1)(m) brings a conviction under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act of 1988 under the ambit of disqualification

The provision also states that if a person has only been fined by a court of law for offences such as indulging in terror activities, rape, subjecting women to cruelty and promoting enmity between two groups, listed under Section 8(1), he/she will stand disqualified for six years from the date of such conviction. But if he/she has been imprisoned for those offences, then the disqualification will begin from the date of such conviction and continue for a further six years from the date of release from prison.

Since Sasikala was imprisoned besides being fined, she will stand disqualified for six more years from the date of her release. The trial court had found her guilty under sections 109 (abetment of an offence) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, read with sections 13(1)(e) [being in possession of wealth disproportionate to known sources of income] and 13(d) [criminal misconduct by public servant] of the PC Act of 1998.