Jaya aide146;s relatives sentenced in DA case

S R Bhaskaran and his wife Sreelatha Devi, relatives of AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa8217;s aide Sasikala, were sentenced in a disproportionate assets case by a special CBI court on Tuesday. While Bhaskaran, a former Reserve Bank of India employee, was awarded five years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 20 lakh, his wife Sreelatha, Sasikala8217;s sister-in-law, was handed down a three-year jail term and a Rs 10 lakh fine for amassing wealth in excess of known sources of income.

Bhaskaran, Sreelatha and her brother TTV Dinakaran, Rajya Sabha member and husband of Sasikala, were chargesheeted in 1998 for accumulating wealth to the tune of Rs 2 crore. Though Bhaskaran argued that the wealth was part of a family fortune inherited by him, the judge ruled it was clearly over and above his known sources of income. Sreelatha also played a role in the dealings, Judge Naganathan had said.

Bhaskaran8217;s name had earlier cropped up in the colour TV distribution case in which Jayalalithaa, Sasikala and former AIADMK minister T M Selvaganapathi were the main accused, with everyone but Selvaganapathi being acquitted. An appeal by the Government is pending at the Madras High Court in this regard.