Jayalalithaa's last chance to be out of jail before Diwali

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will take up former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa's bail plea on Friday. This will be the last chance for Jayalalithaa to get a bail before Diwali as the apex court will go on leave for a week after Friday. Earlier, Jayalalithaa had moved the Supreme Court seeking bail after the Karnataka High Court rejected her bail plea following her conviction in the disproportionate assets case.

The AIADMK chief, who has been behind the bars since September 27, has challenged the High Court order which had refused her bail. Jayalalithaa has pleaded that she is also suffering from various ailments as grounds for her immediate relief.

The former chief minister also cited grounds of being a senior citizen and a woman for getting out of jail. The 66-year-old politician was denied bail by the High Court on October 7 despite the Special Public Prosecutor not objecting to grant of conditional bail to her.

The High Court had also rejected the bail pleas 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.

The Special Court had held Jayalalithaa and three others guilty of corruption. The court had also slapped a fine of Rs 100 crore on the AIADMK chief and Rs 10 crore fine on each of the three other convicts. In the meantime, it is also AIADMK's 43rd Foundation Day on Friday. It is likely to be a muted affair because of the party chief Jaya's incarceration.