AIADMK chief VK Sasikala may not getting the typical ‘VVIP treatment’ which every other politician is accused of while serving a jail term. However, what she is being offered is something which general prisoners can’t even dream of.
The leader who is serving a four year jail term in a case of disproportionate assets in Parpanna Agrahara jail, Bengaluru, has met 28 visitors in just one month. This is in clear violation of the jail manual which states that undertrials and convict prisoners are allowed to meet once a week or once in 15 days respectively, reports India Today.
A report by The Times of India says that Sasikala had 28 visitors from February 16 to March 18. Many of the visitors spent more than 40 minutes with her and were allowed to talk to her in private.
Her relatives and co-convicts in the case, Elavarasi and VN Sudhakaran, met visitors four times and once respectively during the said period
Among Sasikala’s visitors were lawyers, her nephews TTV Dinakaran and Vivek J and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Thambidurai. Activist Narasimha Murthy, who had filed the RTI application, claimed to PTI that this was in violation of jail rules.
Undertrials and convicts are entitled to meet visitors as per the Karnataka Prison Manual and Karnataka Prison Rules. The rules state that undertrial prisoners are eligible for one such meeting a week with their relatives, friends and lawyers, while convicts are eligible to have visitors once in 15 days.
While the jail authorities were unavailable for comments, reports quoting prison officials suggest that the jailer can use discretion in this regard.
(With inputs from PTI)
(All images sourced from PTI)