Chennai, September 28 – September is certainly not the luckiest of months for AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa. It was in September 2001 and now 2014 that the Supreme Court and the Bangalore special court delivered judgements leading to her removal as Chief Minister.
A five-judge Constitution Bench of the apex court had in a unanimous verdict held “a person who is convicted for a criminal offence and sentenced to imprisonment for a period of not less than two years cannot be appointed the Chief Minister of a State under Article 164 (1) read with (4) and cannot continue to function as such.”
The court had also rejected the argument that a popular mandate – or the `will’ of the people – could override the Constitution. Jayalalithaa then made one of his Council of Ministers O Panneerselvam as the next Chief Minister, until she cleared the charges against her in the Madras High Court and won a by-election from Andipatty constituency and returned to power in 2002.
The ‘September’ jinx seems to have caught up with her again as Special Court Judge John Michael D’Cunha today convicted Jayalalithaa and others in the 18-year old disproportionate assets case and sentenced her to four years imprisonment.
-INDIA TODAY
