The Madras High Court on Friday upheld a lower court order acquitting the AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa in the multi-crore 'colour TV' scam during her tenure as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu between 1991-1996.
Justice M Jeyapaul rejected an appeal by the State Government against the acquittal of Ms. Jayalalithaa and two others, including her close friend Sasikala Natarajan, by Special Judge V Radhakrishnan on May 30, 2000.
He also set aside the conviction of former AIADMK Minister T.M. Selvaganapathy and six others in the Rs. 10.16 crore colour TV case pertaining to alleged irregularities in the purchase and distribution of colour televisions sets to village panchayats.
The court allowed appeals by Mr. Selvaganapathy, former Chief Secretary N Haribaskar, former state Rural Development Secretary H M Pandey, former Rural Development Director M Satyamurthy, Mr. Selvaganapathy's PA Jarnathanan and two contractors, Doraisamy and Muthukumarasamy.
The special judge had earlier found the seven guilty of irregularities in the purchase and distribution of colour TV sets in village panchayats and sentenced them to five years rigorous imprisonment each and fines ranging between Rs 10,000 and Rs 30,000.Justice M Jeyapaul on July 10 last had reserved his orders on the appeals by both the Government and the seven accused.
