The Supreme Court judgment in the disproportionate assets case is historic and has been welcomed by a large number of people. But this only exposes the tip of the iceberg of corruption in the country. Corruption and criminalisation are part of our politics and we cannot expect legislation or implementation of effective laws and procedures to keep tainted leaders out of power. The case in question goes back to 1996 and yet Jayalalithaa managed to drag the case for so many years, while remaining in power for most of the same period. If the people continued to vote her to power, that may be due to their ignorance or helplessness. It is time for us too to repent and take some new vows to use our rights more judiciously. Also, media reports do not speak of the relevance of the judgment as far as the late Chief Minister is concerned. It is not proper to exonerate her for the reason that she is no more. But at least her fine should be collected from her heirs. After all, awards are presented posthumously.
P.R.V. Raja,
Pandalam,
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This is a great judgment but will it stop corruption? Definitely not. Every day, bribes are being paid to government servants in taluk offices, tehsildar offices, registrar and sub-registrar offices, in city corporations… the list is endless. Add to this the huge amounts of cash being paid by parents to private schools, colleges, universities, etc. for their children’s admission. This is money that is never declared by the recipients and thus gets converted to black money. Unless corruption at all these levels is eradicated, we may only see occasional convictions such as this one. Let’s also not forget that this case took more than two decades to come to a conclusion! So many government servants and politicians go scot-free, as do owners of these private educational institutions, and only the honest public continues to get looted. Where will all this end?
S. Balagopal,
Chennai
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An important aspect of the judgment is that the court has found former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa as also having been corrupt. But for her death she would have also been jailed. In a way the delayed judgment has saved Jayalalithaa from the ignominy of a conviction.
Leaders of the AIADMK should desist from declaring that they will continue the ‘Amma administration’. It is proven that the Amma government was corrupt and hence not worthy of emulation.
V.N. Gopal,
Chennai
Ms. Sasikala’s story is one of a failed chief ministerial aspirant who did not do her homework properly. She proved that she was a novice in the field. She scripted a poor plot. If only she had been clever enough to gauge the negative fallout of her pending court case, she would not have disturbed her equilibrium with O. Panneerselvam who would have, in all probability, looked out for her well-being while she served time in prison. Her greed to occupy the throne in a tearing hurry was her undoing. Her lament that women suffer the most in politics was but a ploy to gain gender-based sympathy. Her high-handedness was glaring when she stated that she had seen a thousand Panneerselvams. That statement smacked of arrogance not fitting for a chief ministerial aspirant. Her last-minute plot to install her proxy in the Chief Minister’s chair betrays her craze to run the government through back door manoeuvres.
Sivamani Vasudevan,
Chennai
Now that Ms. Sasikala cannot become Chief Minister for a long time, every MLA of the AIADMK should rally around Mr. Panneerselvam to keep the government going for the next four years at least, which will afford enough time for the incumbent Chief Minister to prove himself and possibly get re-elected next time. Any split in the party, as seems imminent now, would only benefit other parties in the State. And none of them has a clean record either.
S. Jagathsimhan,
Thiruvananthapuram
All those who are rejoicing over Ms. Sasikala’s conviction are indirectly rejoicing over the conviction of Jayalalithaa. This includes AIADMK members who support Mr. Panneerselvam. If Jayalalithaa were alive today, Mr. Panneerselvam would be mourning the verdict. The verdict is a blow to the party, but Mr. Panneerselvam’s supporters seem to be portraying this as a victory.
Shafeek Mohammed,
Thalassery, Kerala
Two things remain unanswered. One, how can a High Court judge pass an order which is arithmetically incorrect? Two, the AIADMK says they will follow the path of their former leader, Jayalalithaa. Which path they are talking about? The path of autocracy, total surrender to the leader, corruption, arrogance, lack of transparency and fairness, a freebie culture, total disrespect to democracy and its institutions, and decimation of dissent?
C.K. Saseendran,
Bengaluru