Hailing from the small town of Namakkal, S. Senthil, the lawyer-on-record for former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, has played a key role in perhaps the most politically sensitive legal battle in the history of Tamil Nadu.
The moment the judge stepped down from his podium, AIADMK lawyers hoisted Mr. Senthil up on their shoulders, cheering the sensational victory as they raised slogans hailing Ms. Jayalalithaa. Once outside the building, Mr. Senthil held aloft a picture of the AIADMK supremo to signal the success in the 19-year case.
Among the many changes that took place after the AIADMK came back to power in May 2011 was the wealth case going into the hands of Mr. Senthil. Back then, the decision to make him the official lawyer of Ms. Jayalalithaa in the high-profile case came as a surprise to party leaders. Most of them had no information about this little-known lawyer, who enrolled as an advocate in 1998 after graduating from the Salem Law College. None of his immediate family members was in the party.
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Sources in the AIADMK’s legal team said Mr. Senthil and senior lawyer B. Kumar formed a formidable combination. They took care of all the logistics for the case, even recommending the names of senior lawyers who argued on behalf of Ms. Jayalalithaa at various stages in the past four years.
“I was always sure that this case was a political conspiracy,” he said.