The principal special court for CBI cases, Chennai, on Thursday granted bail to M. Natarajan, husband of V. K. Sasikala, jailed aide of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
He surrendered before the judge as per the direction of the Supreme Court in connection with the illegal import of a luxury car from the United Kingdom.
The CBI had registered a case against Mr. Natarajan, his nephew V. Bhaskaran, Yogesh Balakrishnan, a resident of London and Sujaritha Sundararajan, the then manager of Indian Bank, Abhiramapuram Branch, Chennai, for import of a Toyota Lexus car.
Accused of tax evasion
The car was imported by Mr. Natarajan declaring that it was a used vehicle. Thus, he evaded tax to the tune of ₹1.06 crore.
In 2010, the CBI court sentenced Mr. Natarajan, Mr. Bhaskaran, Mr. Balakrishnan, and Ms. Sundararajan, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for two years and imposed a fine of ₹40,000 on Mr. Balakrishnan and ₹20,000 each on Mr. Natarajan, Mr. Bhaskaran and Ms. Sundararajan.
Dismissing their appeal, the Madras High Court on November 17 last confirmed the trial court order sentencing Mr. Natarajan and others. When they appealed to the Supreme Court, it directed Mr. Natarajan and Mr. Bhaskaran to deposit ₹25 lakh each , surrender before the trial court and seek bail in the connection with the car import case.
On Thursday, Mr. Natarajan surrendered before the principal special judge for CBI cases A. Thiruneelaprasad and submitted relevant documents.
The court granted him bail.
