BANGALORE, Oct 7 � In a blow to AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa, the Karnataka High Court today rejected her bail plea in the disproportionate assets case, saying there was no ground to grant her the relief, reports PTI.
The order by Justice AV Chandrashekhara came after Special Public Prosecutor Bhavani Singh told the court he had no objection to granting conditional bail to Jayalalithaa, who is in prison here since her conviction by the Special Court on September 27.
In his order pronounced in a packed court room, the judge said there �are no grounds� to give bail to the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and observed that corruption amounts to �violation of human rights� and leads to economic imbalance.
As the SPP told the court that he was not opposed to bail for Jayalalithaa, AIADMK supporters, who had gathered near the Parappana Agrahara Jail, where Jayalalithaa is lodged, and near the court, went delirious, anticipating her release. When the verdict came, they went into a state of disbelief.
�My client will take a call,� senior counsel Ram Jethmalani, who appeared for Jayalalithaa, told PTI, after the verdict when asked whether they would approach the Supreme Court.
The court also rejected the pleas for bail by Jayalalithaa�s close aide Sasikala and her relatives VN Sudhakaran, disowned foster son of the former Chief Minister, and Ilavarasi, who have also been sent to four years in jail in the 18-year-old case.
In his submission, Jethmalani, strongly pleading for immediate bail to 66-year-old Jayalalithaa, cited the Supreme Court verdict granting relief to former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad in the fodder scam.
The court did not accept the submission, with the judge noting that Lalu Prasad had spent 10 months in jail before being granted bail by the apex court.
Arguing for the AIADMK supremo, Jethmalani also earlier pleaded for suspension of the sentence by the Special Court which had sent her to four years in jail.
