Litigation 7 years Location Chennai | Dates 10 Jun 1999 – 2 Feb 2000 | |
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Charges Misuse of office, Corruption, Criminal conspiracy Verdict Supreme Court: Acquitted of all charges, High Court: Acquitted of all charges Trial Court: One year imprisonment for all six Convictions High Court: none; Trial Court: 5 Participants Jayalalithaa, T. M. Selvaganapathy | ||
Pleasant Stay hotel case was a sensational case against Jayalalithaa, the late Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, a state in South India during her tenure in 1991-96. Jayalalitha and her ministerial colleague, T. M. Selvaganapathy, were charged of misusing office to allow Pleasant Stay Hotel in Kodaikanal to build seven floors against the norms. The case and chargesheet were filed during the following DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) government headed by Karunanidhi in 1996. Jayalalitha and T. M. Selvaganapathy were convicted in the lower court, which sentenced her to one year imprisonment to the two and three others involved. The case had political implications as the aftermath violence created furore in the state. Three girls from a college were burnt alive in a bus. The statewide violence resulted in the burning of five buses, damaging fifty buses and leaving 40 people injured. In one of the bus burning incidents, three girls from a college were killed. The three AIADMK supporters convicted in the case, got death sentence in the case in 2007.
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The Madras High Court acquitted her and other four accused in the case of all the charges on 4 December 2001 along with the TANSI land acquisition case. The Supreme Court upheld the order of Madras High Court on 24 November 2003 on grounds of lack of evidence. She came back to power winning the Tamil Nadu assembly by-election, 2002 from Andipatti constituency in March 2002.
Background
Jayalalithaa Jayaram (born 24 February 1948), commonly referred to as Jayalalithaa, is an Indian politician and three time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu during various times from 1991–96, 2002–06 and 2011–14, 2015-2016.
During April 1991, Mittal was permitted to construct two floors of his hotel named Pleasant Stay in Kodaikanal. In January 1992, he submitted a revised plan seeking permission to build seven floors altogether. His petition was rejected by Kodaikanal township and he filed an appeal. Not waiting for the appeal, he started constructing four floors of the hotel. Palani Hills Conservation Council (PHCC) obtained a stay from Madras High Court during December 1997. There was a legal tangle between the hotel and PHCC, which PHCC won. On 13 May 1994, the Jayalalithaa government passed a Government Order, G.O. Ms. No.126, which permitted Mittal to build five extra floors in a total of seven floors against the norms. Jayalalitha, Local Administration Minister Selvaganapathy, Municipal Administration and Water Supply secretary H.M. Pandey, executive director of the hotel Rakesh Mittal, and Chairman and managing director of the hotel Palai N. Shanmugham were the five accused in the case. It was quoted that P.C. Cyriac, who was the Secretary of Municipal Administration and Water supply did not authorise the construction was transferred and was replaced by Pandey. It was also inferred that the GO was passed by Jayalalitha, Selavaganapathy and Pandey, against the Architectural and Aesthetics Aspects Committee (AAAC) headed by the Chief secretary of the Government of Tamil Nadu. On 6 December 1994, the government passed another order G.O., Ms. No.317 with effect from 13 May 1994, preventing buildings from provisions of the Development Control Rules. on 31 March 1994, Mittal was ordered by Madras High Court not to use any floor other than the zero and first floors. He went on higher appeal, which was quashed along with the G.O. of 13 May 1994.
Trial
The trial was held in a trial court in Chennai and was presided over by a special judge named Radhakrishnan. The prosecution team was headed by N. Natarajan, Senior Special Public Prosecutor for corruption cases against Jayalalitha, conducted by Special Public Prosecutors S. Ramasamy and K.E. Venkataraman, Special Public Prosecutor R. Karunakaran and advocate Sunder Mohan. The judge noted that the First Investigation Report (FIR) was filed only two years after the incident on account of the higher officials and politicians involved. He also noted that there was pecuniary advantage to the hotel management, though it was not proved that the passing of G.O. in favour of the hotel management has no reciprocal benefit for the government officials involved. It quoted that Pandey, who knew the details about the case, did not follow the Secretarial functions of passing the file directly to Jayalalitha via Selavaganapathy. On 2 February 2000, the five were convicted and Jayalalithaa was sentenced to one year of rigorous imprisonment and levied a fine of ₹2,000 on charges of criminal conspiracy and criminal misconduct by a public servant. The judge in his order stated, "We have sufficient circumstantial evidence which proves beyond any reasonable doubt that Jayalalithaa, Selvaganapathy and Pandey committed criminal misconduct abetted by Rakesh and Palani, and all were party to the criminal conspiracy. Hence I am inclined to impose the minimum sentence contemplated under Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act". On 9 February 2000, the Madras High Court suspended the implementation of the sentence on appeal from Jayalalitha.
Aftermath
The supporters of Jayalalithaa were angered by the verdict, which led to statewide protests and violence, including damage to public property by AIADMK members. Two AIADMK cadres committed suicide by setting themselves ablaze. The violence resulted in burning five buses, damaging fifty buses and leaving 40 people injured. Major violence took place in the state capital Chennai where 22 buses of the state run MTC buses were damaged, leaving 27 people with injuries. The state bus transport was suspended for 24 hours and the police arrested 400 people across the state, with 317 from Chennai alone.
The major violence was that of 2000 Dharmapuri bus burning, where three girls were killed. On 2 February 2000, seventy students from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, were returning from a study tour in two buses. They were stopped by mob, who forced the students to alight. One of the men threw a petrol bomb, setting fire to a bus before all of the students got out. Three girls, Hemalatha from Chennai, V. Gayathri from Virudhachalam and Kokilavani from Namakkal were burned to death, and 16 others sustained injuries. The scenes of the bus burning were captured and broadcast the following day on Sun TV. The incident caused anger amongst the student community. Schools and colleges were asked to shut for a week, and students across the state held silent processions and protest marches condemning the act. The three AIADMK men who were charged in the act, went on to be sentenced by the High Court to death on 5 December 2007, confirming the lower court order. There were 25 other cadre of AIADMK who were convicted on lesser charges and sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment.
The verdict came at a time when the Tamil Maanila Congress, which was in alliance with DMK during the 1996 parliamentary elections, was supporting the AIADMK in the upcoming by-elections. DMK was alleging that it was the handiwork of AIADMK cadre, while AIADMK demanded a CBI (Central Buruea of Investigation) probe in the issue questioning the presence of DMK supported Sun TV crew during the time of burning.