Cases filed against J. Jayalalithaa

1996 colour TV case

Main article: Colour TV case

In the colour TV corruption case involving the purchase of TV sets to villagers, Jayalalithaa was charged and arrested. The TV sets were provided in the framework of a government education and entertainment plan for the village population. Officials said the TVs were purchased at inflated prices and claimed that some of the money paid for TV stations was returned as kickbacks to government officials. Later, she was acquitted as the accusation against them were not proven beyond doubt.

Detained in 1996, the media reported that 21.28 kg of gold jewels worth Rs 35 million, 10,500 saris, 91 designer watches, 750 pairs of shoes, 1,250 kg of silver objects worth 31.2 million, diamonds worth 20 million, a silver sword and 19 vehicles were among the priceless treasures found at her house.

1995 Foster son and luxury wedding corruption

In 1995, Jayalalithaa's friend Sasikala's nephew Sudhakaran was engaged to the youngest daughter of Sivaji Ganesan. Jayalalithaa was a chief minister of state by this time. Jaya declared that Sudhakaran would be adopted as her foster son and said that she would be performing his marriage as his mother.

The wedding occupied a 2-km long lighted baraat pathway, ten dining halls each accommodating 25,000 people, and a 75,000 square foot pandal. Tons of plywood, plaster of paris and paint were used to erect cut-outs of Jayalalitha, arches, several hundred papier-mache statues, elaborate facades of palaces and gateways. The VIP invitations included a silver plate enclosed in a container, a silk saree and a silk dhoti, each worth ₹20,000. The marriage hosted more than 1,000 VIPs. More than 40,000 guests were granted accommodation in the hotel. A legion of elephants and chefs brought in from Kerala. The incident, hailed as "the mother of all marriages". People's anger mounted against her as the crores were lavished at the wedding, and Jayalalithaa and Sasikala became symbols of corruption. She was accused of using government money to celebrate the grand marriage. The marriage may have triggered the AIADMK to lose all 39 Lok Sabha seats in the 1996 general election.

She was later sentenced for 4 years in jail in 2014 for corruption related to the marriage and the Disproportionate assets case.

Jayalalithaa owns a Guinness Book of World Records for conducting the luxury wedding. The record shows that over 15,000 guests have been invited. The Income-Tax Dept estimated the cost of the wedding at ₹100 million.

Jayalalithaa later disowned Sudhakaran as her foster son.

1998 TANSI land deal case

Main article: TANSI land acquisition case

The TANSI land deal case refers to the purchase of land by Jaya Publications, which included Jayalalithaa and her friend Sasikala, from the State Small Industry Company, Tansi, Guindy. Justice P Anbhazhagan delivered the judgment, and said that the evidence stated in the prosecution sheet, and that the sale deed of the prime land in Guindy had been carried out on 29 May 1992, in the unequivocal aim of cheating against the government. The Supreme Court disqualified her in September 2001, resulting in her stepping down and which made O. Panneerselvam as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. The Madras High Court acquitted her and other 5 accused in the case of all the charges on 4 December 2001.

Disproportionate assets case

Main article: Disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa

Jayalalithaa was initially convicted of misusing her office during her tenure in 1991–1996. Subramanian Swamy was the main petitioner. Some of the accusations concerned expenditure on her foster son's luxurious marriage in 1996 and acquiring properties worth more than 666.5 million, as well as jewellery, bank deposits, investment and a convoy of luxury vehicles. The trial lasted for 18 years. Justice John Michael D'Cunha, in a detailed judgement, showed that the entire asset belonged to the accused and no one else. On 11 May 2015, Jayalalithaa was acquitted of all charges by the High Court of Karnataka. On 14 February 2017, the Supreme Court of India overruled the High Court of Karnataka. Sasikala and the other accused were convicted and sentenced to four years in prison, as well as to a fine of ₹100 million each. The case proceedings against Jayalalithaa were abated and dismissed on account of her death. The Supreme Court of India dismissed the review petition of Government of Karnataka on 5 April 2017 and the curative petition on 28 September 2018 to re-examine its decision to abate the proceedings against Jayalalithaa due to her death.

2000 Pleasant Stay hotel case

Main article: Pleasant Stay hotel case

See also: 2000 Dharmapuri bus burning

Pleasant Stay hotel case is the construction of the seven-story hotel "Pleasant stay" in Kodaikanal, which was in breach of the rules for the construction of the seven-story building in a blue ville in the tourist resort town in Kodaikanal. Jayalalithaa, Selvaganapathy and Pandey granted a permission to create a seven-story structure at the hotel. The case was related to Jayalalithaa's supposed clearance by violating government rules to the development of a hotel in ecologically significant Kodaikanal. Jayalalithaa was sentenced in February 2000 to one year's strict imprisonment, with the penalty fined Rs. 1000 for conspiracy and criminal misconduct as a public employee. After the court's decision, AIADMK cadres started to riot and arson which burned alive three female students in the Dharmapuri bus burning and many were killed and injured. The Supreme Court disqualified her in September 2001, resulting in her stepping down and which made O. Panneerselvam as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. The Madras High Court acquitted her and other 5 accused in the case of all the charges on 4 December 2001.

Coal import case

• A case was filed against Jayalalithaa, former Minister Kannappan, Chief Secretary T.V. Venkatraman and Electricity Board Chairman Haribaskar for alleged irregularities in the import of coal from Australia and Indonesia for use in Tamil Nadu thermal power plants, causing a loss of Rs 6.5 crore to the government.
• Judgment - The special court dismissed the charges. The Madras High Court upheld the judgment of the special court.
• Subramanian Swamy was also examined as a witness in this case. The judge had said in his judgment that ‘Subramanian Swamy, who had complained of corruption worth Rs 700 crore, was unable to list or explain the charges during the investigation.

TIDCO-SPIC Shares Case

• SPIC was a public-private partnership company. M.A. Chidambaram of the Chettinadarasar family and his son A.C. Muthiah, founded by TIDCO, a Tamil Nadu government company, held the majority of the shares (26%). M.A. Chidambaram was the chairman of the company and A.C. Muthiah was the vice-chairman. During the DMK regime in 1989, the government decided that the Chief Secretary should be the chairman since the Tamil Nadu government held the majority of the shares. :To enable the M.A. Chidambaram family to become the chairman, the Tamil Nadu government transferred 2 lakh debentures to them. It gave them bonds worth Rs 12.37 crores after receiving Rs 40.66 crores. However, following allegations of corruption by Subramanian Swamy, the Madras High Court ordered a CBI investigation.

*Judgment - On January 24, 2004, the special court dismissed the case, saying that the CBI had not proven the charges and acquitted Jayalalithaa. It also said that there was no financial loss to the government or DITCO.

• The judge stated in the judgment that the testimony of Subramanian Swamy, who filed the public interest litigation based on an article in a newspaper, was not known to him personally about the share transfer and that too three and a half years after the article was published. == Birthday Gift Case ==
• In 1992, the CBI had stated in its first information report that he had received over Rs 2 crore as a birthday gift from 57 people through 89 drafts (including a draft for $ 3 lakh from a foreign country). Later, when the charge sheet was filed, it reduced it to Rs 1.48 crore from 21 people. The then ministers Sengottaiyan and Azhughu Thirunavukkarasu were also accused in this case.
• Judgment - On September 30, 2011, High Court Justice K.N. Pasha dismissed all the charges mentioned in the first information report of the CBI. The judge said that the CBI was dragging its feet without completing the investigation even after a decade and said that any victim should file a complaint and the CBI should The judge had noted that the case was not pursued and that the allegations were based on the information Jayalalithaa had given about her birthday gifts during her income tax filing. Therefore, it is clear that she did not hide any information.

Income Tax Account Case

The Jayalalithaa Income Tax Case was a case filed by the Income Tax Department in 1996 against former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for not filing her income tax returns for the years 1993-1994. The Income Tax Department filed another case in 1997 alleging that Sasi Enterprises and its partners Jayalalithaa and Sasikala had also not filed their income tax returns for the years 1991-1992 and 1992-1993. The Income Tax Case related to non-filing of income tax returns was pending in the Additional Chief Metropolitan Criminal Court, Chennai.

Petitions filed in the Madras High Court seeking to quash these cases were dismissed in 2006. Later, an appeal was filed by Jayalalithaa in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, which dismissed the petition, directed the Egmore Metropolitan Court to complete the investigation within four months on 30 January 2014. Later, this time limit was further extended. Meanwhile, the accused had filed a petition with the Income Tax Department on 25 June 2014 for amicable settlement of the matter. The case was heard in the Egmore Court on 17-09-2014. The case has been adjourned to 6 November.

In this situation, the Income Tax case was concluded when the Income Tax Department withdrew the case on 8 January 2015, as Jayalalithaa and Sasikala paid a fine of Rs. 2 crore imposed by the Income Tax Department. He was acquitted of all the cases and took oath as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the fifth time on 23 May 2015.