Probe reveals Rs 65 cr amassed by Jaya

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CHENNAI, May 3: The probe into the disproportionate assets case against former Chief Minister J Jayalalitha came to an end on Friday with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) claiming that the face value of the assets allegedly amassed by her was about Rs 65.86 crore. The charge-sheet against the former chief minister is likely to be filed by mid-May.

When the DVAC filed the FIR in the case last December, the wealth acquired by Jayalalitha, allegedly disproportionate to her known sources of income, was estimated at Rs 15.52 crore. Then the figures swelled to Rs 46 crore and finally the DVAC estimated her assets to be worth Rs 65.86 crore. ``This final figure arrived at is the minimum provable amount,'' says a top official.

According to the final report submitted by the DVAC to the government, apart from Jayalalitha, her confidante Sasikala Natarajan, her former foster son V.N. Sudhagaran and his cousin Ilavarasi are the other key accused. Three hundred witnesses were interrogated in the case.

The investigations by the DVAC encompassed a five year period beginning on July 1, 1991 from when the accumulation of wealth ``gathered momentum'' according to the investigating agency. From July 1, 1991 to April 30, 1996, Jayalalitha and Sasikala allegedly floated 14 companies which included Signora Business Enterprises, Anjaneya Printers Lex Properties, Riverway Agro Products and Indo Doha Chemical and Pharmaceutical Company in the names of Sasikala, Ilavarasi and Sudhagaran.

The report also states that the 14 companies filed no tax returns and were only involved in the purchase of real estate and other assets. The DVAC has concluded that Jayalalitha had acquired assets worth Rs 9.2 crore through known sources of income and the remaining, allegedly worth Rs 65.86 crore, were accumulated through ``unexplained'' sources.

Till 1987, the face value of Jayalalitha's assets was only Rs 437,817 and till the end of 1990 she had no substantial balance in her bank account.

When she was a Member of Parliament between May 13, 1988 and January 27, 1989, she bought four cars at a cost of Rs 9.12 lakh. Then on February 13, 1989 she bought a jeep for Rs 1.04 lakh, says the DVAC report. However, during her chief ministership, her assets had allegedly gone up 600 times, said an official.

Meanwhile, in the same case, the DVAC is also preparing charge-sheets against three former AIADMK ministers of the erstwhile Jayalalitha cabinet and two former AIADMK MLAs. The AIADMK general secretary, Jayalalitha demanded on Saturday that the CBI reopen its case against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M Karunanidhi, on the `wheat scandal' as suggested by the Sarkaria commission.

In a statement here, she said the Commission had found Karunanidhi guilty of misuse of power in allowing a trader to sell wheat to the flour mills in the state on a higher rate after taking commission from the dealer. The commission had recommended the filing of a case against Karunanidhi.