Four reasons why Jayalalithaa got away
J Jayalalithaa has been acquitted of all charges in the infamous disproportionate assets case and is now set to return as Tamil Nadu chief minister in a matter of days. The Karnataka High Court upheld her appeal and Judge CR Kumaraswamy read out the verdict with crackers bursting in the background and distant Chennai erupting in joy.
While the 1,306-page-long judgement of the special judge John Michael Cunha delivered on September 27 last year has been thoroughly set aside, #AmmaReturns, #AmmaDay and other hashtag trends started blurring the line between objective and virtual worlds. It seems the Thalaivi has popped open the coconut of her own largesse by simply emerging from the shadows of India’s languid (in)justice system; her 10,500 saris, 800kg silver, 28kg gold, 750 pairs of shoes, umpteen number of watches delicately complimenting her ample wrist, notwithstanding. Current CM O Panneerselvam, whose only pictures in the mainstream media have been those of him genuflecting (almost) before a regal Amma, has kept the seat warm for eight long months, too happy to vacate it now for the mighty Xena of AIADMK.
It’s THAT season
Literally, it’s the season of getting kid-glove treatment if you have men and women ready to set themselves on fire for you. Or jump from the rooftop. So, even if you have been dillydallying and playing hide-and-seek with the rather obliging criminal justice system in India (more than 18 years in Jaya’s case — she was charged in September 1996; it was 13 in case of Salman Khan), the rate of getting the trial process running is inversely proportional to how the higher courts will be willing to let you take everything for a ride. For instance, if Salman Khan gets anticipatory bail in two hours and is allowed to not worry about leaving the comforts of his Galaxy Towers Bandra home in just two days, in Jaya’s case it’s even simpler. The Karnataka High Court simply uttered “appeal upheld” to wash years of painstaking work by Justice Mario Cunha down the drain. However, in Justice Kumaraswamy’s defence, he did prevent a riot of sorts on the streets of Tamil Nadu. So, perhaps it’s all in the interest of the greater good of the nation.
Too big to be guilty?
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that higher the stakes and longer the list of your (disproportionate) acquisition/misdemeanour, the greater the chances of you jangling the nuts and bolts of Indian judiciary. For most, it’s the scale of investment projects that have been put on hold, thanks to sentencing of Jaya by the lower court. Judge Cunha had not only slapped a massive fine of Rs 100 crore on Amma, she was also given a four-year jail term and barred from active politics for ten long years. But the proxy government of O Panneerselvam could hardly keep up with the vagaries of statecraft that Amma was so adept at, putting projects worth thousands of crores in cold storage. Whether they be multinational corporations looking to invest in Tamil Nadu or millions of rural and urban poor looking up to their beloved Amma for the one-rupee square meal at Amma canteen, their leader’s bad luck had rubbed off their weeping destinies. Even the MLAs in Tamil Nadu legislature couldn’t function well without the guiding spirit of their ultimate goddess.
Fali S Nariman
Your rendezvous with the law is only as good as your lawyer. So whether it’s Harish Salve or Fali Sam Nariman, unless you can afford a legal luminary whose fees almost equals your income at a particular point, you can kiss those hopes of trifling with law goodbye. While Salve took a guilty Salman and turned him into a victim of judicial zealotry in just two days, Nariman obtained a bail for Jaya in a matter of few days after her conviction in September 2014 at first and now freeing her of all charges whatsoever. Let’s not forget that this million-watt legal brain had been in service of Dow Chemicals in the notorious Bhopal Gas disaster case, allowing the likes of Warren Anderson to lead a charmed life in American soil while the victims battled with mutilated bodies and cancers of every possible organ for over three decades. But what’s a brilliant lawyer if he cannot play the devil’s advocate in a country overly infected with worshipping false gods?
Comeback queen
But being a false god or goddess is certainly no mean feat and being able to stage theatrical comebacks is one of the crucial talents needed to survive and thrive in this cutthroat world of Indian politics. J Jayalalithaa, right from her celluloid days, is a queen of charades, reigning on hearts and minds of doting Tamilians for five decades now. After the death of MGR in December 1987, Jaya became the undisputed queen of AIADMK, and to her credit, has given the party stellar stints in power. With her next swearing-in, possibly on May 17, she’ll equal her archrival M Karunanidhi’s record of presiding over five such ceremonies. Along with her long-term associate Sasikala Natarajan, who, too, is now free, Jaya’s ability to return with a bigger mandate each time, keeps her detractors twiddling their sorry thumbs, and lets Tamil Nadu do what it best can — bask under the reflected glory of their one-time matinee idol and current political prima donna.