AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa’s lawyers will file an appeal on Monday against the special court verdict sentencing her to four-year simple imprisonment in a disproportionate assets case and also seek her release on bail.
AIADMK Rajya Sabha Member A. Navaneethakrishnan told The Hindu that a bail application would be moved in the Karnataka High Court. However, since the High Court was on vacation, the application may be taken up by a vacation bench on Tuesday.
Her lawyers held a marathon meeting here on Sunday preparing the grounds of appeal against the trial court order which disqualified Ms Jayalalithaa as an MLA and cost her the position of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. The legal team discussed options to get the sentence suspended and the conviction stayed, party sources said. According to sources, senior Supreme Court advocate Ram Jethmalani is likely to join the defence team.
Meanwhile, an advocate in the prosecution team said the State would oppose applications seeking stay on the sentence and conviction.
“When a bail application is made, the High Court will order notices to the State. If they move an application seeking stay on conviction, the State will oppose it,” he said on condition of anonymity.
Legal experts say a stay on the conviction is deemed necessary to get her disqualification suspended. While the Supreme Court has said in many cases that the appellate court has the power to suspend both the sentence and conviction, it laid down in 2001 that when a public servant has been convicted for corruption, the conviction should not be stayed during the pendency of an appeal.
