No other popular leader has been put to such hardship as Ms. Jayalalithaa (“After acquittal, Jayalalithaa set to return as CM”, May 12). It is true that the case was “tenaciously investigated and vigorously prosecuted”. One must remember that it was under the guidance of the Supreme Court that the verdict has been pronounced. Enough political battles have been fought in the corridors of the judiciary and it is time for governance.
R. S. Krishnaswamy,Chennai
Apart from the legal green signal for her to become the Chief Minister again, it is certain that Ms. Jayalalithaa’s popularity will peak as people will view this most certainly as a “ conspiracy” by her rivals to keep her out of power. Her arch political rival may be right when he says that the biggest of all courts is that of the “conscience”, but has he forgotten about the 2G scam?
K. Malikul Azeez,Chennai
The acquittal reminds one of the statement of E.M.S. Namboothiripad that Indian courts are bourgeois courts. The opinion of Speical Public Prosecutor B.V. Acharya that the appeal turned out to be a “one-sided affair” (May 12) reiterates this. Is it that courts do not see the common man and the celebrity as being equal before the law? Is there an element of fear of what will follow after sending a celebrity to jail?
B. Prabha,Varkala, Kerala
It can now remain only in the realm of conjecture whether the findings would have been any different had the prosecution been allowed to present its oral argument rebutting the defence plea, both on facts and the law. As pointed out, the judgment should not be the last word on the issue. The charges were too serious to be dismissed and deserve final closure only in the Supreme Court.
S.K. Choudhury,Bengaluru
It won’t be surprising if the shrewd politician in Ms. Jayalalithaa now opts for early Assembly elections after assuming power. The Opposition with or without cobbling together an alliance has virtually no chance of standing in her way now. She can even afford to become a ‘benevolent dictator’ in the best interests of her home State. Her best political years await her.
C.G. Kuriakose,Kothamangalam, Kerala
Even though recalculation of the disproportionate assets proves that she has 8.12 per cent of her income from unknown sources, it is still a figure of Rs.2.82 crore, and a princely sum for the common man (“Clinching argument”, May 12). Perhaps the judiciary needs to calculate how many years or generations it would take for the common Indian to accumulate Rs.2.82 crore, and in an honest way.
Rajnish Singh,Haridwar, Uttarakhand
I would not like to comment on Ms. Jayalalithaa’s acquittal, but on the astonishing reactions in Tamil Nadu following the verdict. While unbridled celebrations are part and parcel of cases which involve people in high positions, frenzied outbursts that lack moral conduct are unnecessary. Acts of pouring milk over the person’s statue, burning effigies of an arch political rival and also causing inconvenience to the public are all matters that lower the image of a progressive State.
Sreyas M.,Bengaluru
It was startling to come across the sentence in the Editorial (May 12), “Now that the conviction is set aside, Ms. Jayalalithaa can return as Chief Minister with complete political and moral authority.” Where is any moral authority in all this?
E. Arunan,Bengaluru
