5 rooms, personal cook: Probe reveals VIP facilities for Sasikala
Bengaluru, Jan 20: Ousted AIADMK leader V.K. Sasikala was given special treatment in a prison here, where she is serving imprisonment in a corruption case, according to the report by an inquiry committee that went into allegations by a senior police official, an RTI query has revealed.
The 295-page report by retired IAS officer Vinay Kumar confirmed then DIG (Prisons) D. Roopa's claims in July 2017 that Sasikala was given preferential treatment and a separate kitchen functioned for her at the Parappana Agrahara Central Jailhere, RTI activist Narasimha Murthy said.
"I have accessed the 295 pages report through an RTI query. The report confirms that Sasikala was given special treatment in the jail," he told PTI here.
The reply was furnished by M.R. Shobha, Public Relations Officer of the Home Department.
Reacting to it, Roopa said her stand had been vindicated and said this case could be one of the basis for prison reforms.
"Whatever I had said in my report is the same thing and this was an independent inquiry committee... My stand is vindicated and I am happy for that," she told reporters here.
The IPS officer said it was because of her efforts and struggle that the report had become public through RTI route.
"Unfortunately my report was not taken on its face value. I was transferred out. People doubted perhaps but now same thing has been said in the report (by the inquiry officer)," Roopa, presently IGP, Home Guards and Civil Defence, said.
The then Siddaramaiah government had ordered an inquiry by Vinay Kumar to probe the allegations made by Roopa after the issue snowballed.
In
her
report
submitted
on
July
12
to
DGP
(Prisons)
H.N.
Sathyanarayana
Rao,
Roopa
had
said
there
was
"a
talk"
that
Rs
two
crore
had
exchanged
hands
to
give
preferential
treatment
for
Sasikala
and
there
were
allegations
against
him
also,
charge
rejected
by
him.
The
issue
had
caused
embarrassment
to
the
then
Congress
government
led
by
Siddaramaiah
which
ordered
the
transfer
of
Roopa
and
Rao
after
both
sparred
in
public.
Sasikala is lodged at Parappana Agrahara central prison here ever since her conviction by the Supreme Court in February, 2017 in the disproportionate assets case along with her two relatives V.N. Sudhakaran and Elavarasi, all serving a 4-year jail term.
Kumar
had
submitted
his
report
to
the
government
on
November
17,
2017
but
its
contents
were
not
made
public.
The
report,
a
copy
of
which
is
available
with
PTI,
said
Sasikala,
close
aide
of
late
Tamil
Nadu
chief
minister
Jayalalithaa,
was
allowed
to
wear
her
personal
clothes
and
cook.
A
pressure
cooker
and
spices
were
found
in
her
prison
cell.
It
also
said
there
was
separate
visitors' room
for
her
and
the
corridor
in
the
jail
was
barricaded
for
her.
Sasikala
was
provided
five
cells,
despite
no
threat
to
her
life
as
per
intelligence
reports,
the
report
said.
The inquiry committee report said Sasikala enjoyed free movement within the prison which was corroborated by video clips. One of the videos showed Sasikala and co-convict Elavarasi going out of the female barrack with a bag in hand, it said.
The
videos
were
submitted
to
the
commission
by
Roopa
along
with
other
CCTV
footage
from
inside
the
prison.
The
report
also
found
that,
as
per
the
CCTV
footage,
Sasikala
met
with
a
person
in
white
shirt
and
white
pants
for
over
four
hours
on
June
11,
2017.
According to the prison register, the person is A. Ashokan, her advocate. However, while it was mentioned in the register that she met with him for only 45 minutes the maximum time that a prisoner can spend with a visitor, the CCTV evidence that showed she met him for several hours.
The Daily Report (submitted by the chief superintendent of the prison for July 11, 2017) also showed that Elavarasi on that day had seven visitors, but the total time spent by her was recorded as 45 minutes from 2 pm.
"This
can
only
be
explained
as
deliberate
misreporting
on
the
part
of
the
concerned
prison
officials
to
escape
falling
within
the
prohibition
of
Rule
601
of
the
Karnataka
Prison
Manual
1978.
In
other
words,
it
is
a
case
of
falsification
of
records,
the
report
noted.
It
also
found
two
other
similar
manipulation
of
visitor
timings.
When asked about the bribery charges made by her, Roopa said a probe by the anti-corruption bureau had been ordered a long time ago and it should be taken to the logical end by punishing the culprits.
Even otherwise, under the Prevention of Corruption Act, since jail was a public place, all the resources there were public resources.
"So causing undue favour to anyone using public resource is itself a punishable under the prevention of corruption Act. So I hope the details will also be looked into," she added.
PTI