The Supreme Court on February 14 has convicted Sasikala setting aside the Karnataka High Court verdict acquitting her in the 18 year-old disproportionate assets case that also involved the late chief minister J Jayalalithaa. The CPI(M) has welcomed the Supreme Court judgement and said this serves as a warning to all those in public life who indulge in corruption.

After 18 years of legal proceedings, Justice Michael D' Cunha in 2015 convicted former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, Sasikala, Sudhakaran and Ilavarasi, in a disproportionate assets case. They were later acquitted by Justice Kumarasami of the Karnataka High Court. The Supreme Court has now quashed the High Court verdict and upheld the judgement of Justice D' Cunha. Sasikala, Sudhakaran and Ilavarasi have been awarded a four-year imprisonment term and a fine of Rs 10 crores.
The CPI(M) Tamil Nadu state secretariat, in a statement issued on February 14, has welcomed the Supreme Court judgement. The judgement is a warning to all those in public life who indulge in corruption. It will give fresh impetus to the fight against corruption, it said.
The CPI(M) has urged the governor to take the necessary steps to restore stability in the state. The governor should take the appropriate measures to convene the assembly so that a new government can be formed, said the statement.

CPI(M) Condemns Delaying Tactics of Governor, Demands Floor Test in Tamil Nadu Assembly

Below we reproduce the statement issued by the CPI(M) Tamil Nadu state secretariat, on February 10, 2017.
AN unusual political situation is prevailing in Tamil Nadu. The last one week has been witnessing infighting inside the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam on the issue of who would control the party and the government. It has nothing to do with various pressing issues affecting the people such as drought, shortage of potable water, farmers' suicides and attack on women and children. They remain unresolved and are in fact getting aggravated. Tamil Nadu is in a perilous condition with a caretaker chief minister and no elected representatives in local bodies, leaving the people in a lurch. The state also does not have a full-time governor and the administration is paralysed. It is amidst this that an unhealthy struggle has broken out to capture power and take control of the property of the party.

Though it is the prerogative of the AIADMK MLAs to elect their leader, the haste with which Sasikala has moved in to become the chief minister raises many questions. The popular sentiment that it is not fair on her part to assume power when the verdict of the Supreme Court in the case involving her is likely to come out shortly is understandable. In the past, she did not play a key role either in the party or in the government, but her efforts now to take on both the party and the chief ministership have not created an acceptability.
The caretaker chief minister O Panneerselvam is now raising serious allegations against Sasikala. But given his past record, he is not above board. He is answerable for the brutal violence unleashed on the last day of the Jallikattu struggle, he is responsible for the callous attitude towards the issue of farmers' suicides. One should not forget that he is very much in the midst of power struggle.  

Meanwhile, the BJP is trying to fish in troubled waters, utilising the opportunity provided by the death of Jayalalithaa. On the one hand, they are betraying the interests of the state and on the other they are attempting to obtain a foothold in the key southern state of Tamil Nadu. We should not underestimate the danger of their projecting communal politics which is opposed to the tradition of social justice and secular values of the state.

In this situation, the governor should have initiated the constitutional process. But despite knowing the critical situation of the state, he did not come to Chennai and now after meeting the concerned parties, he is delaying to act. This is highly condemnable. There are many instances where the BJP government is utilising governors to further their political interests in various states. Congress had the same approach in the past. The same scenario is being repeated in Tamil Nadu.
The CPI(M) demands that the governor must uphold democratic principles and immediately ensure constitutional process of conducting floor test to prove the majority, without further delay.
The CPI(M) appeals to the masses to reject politics of power-mongering, corruption, casteism and communalism and rally around a political alternative based on pro-people policies and ideology.