File photo of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa.
J Jayalalithaa's lawyers are expected to reach Delhi this morning from Bangalore and could file an appeal in the Supreme Court against the Karnataka High Court's dismissal of the former Tamil Nadu chief minister's petition for bail.
Ms Jayalalithaa, 66, has been in prison now for 12 days, after being convicted on charges of corruption by a court in Bangalore, where her case was transferred in 2001 from her home state to ensure her political clout would not influence the trial.
Ms Jayalalithaa's lawyers want her four-year sentence to be suspended and bail to be granted. The Supreme Court will go on vacation for Diwali from October 18 to 26 - if judges do not decide on her appeal before then, the AIADMK leader may have to spend the festival in jail.
The case against her accuses her of using her first term as chief Minister from 1991 to 1996 to accumulate vast wealth. Ms Jayalalithaa says she is a victim of political vendetta by rival party, the DMK, which pursued the case.
Ms Jayalalithaa's conviction meant that she was automatically disqualified as a legislator and had to step down as Chief Minister in the middle of her third term in that post - the Supreme Court said last year that any law-maker found guilty of serious criminal charges stands immediately disqualified from office, even if an appeal is filed against the conviction. She has handpicked a party loyalist O Panneerselvam to fill in for her as Chief Minister.
Assembly elections are due in the state in 2016 and unless her conviction is set aside, Jayalalithaa will not be able to contest. DMK chief M Karunanidhi said yesterday that her "comeback to power can only be a dream. It would never be fulfilled."
The DMK was ousted from power by Ms Jayalalithaa's party the AIADMK in the 2011 state elections. In national elections this year, her party won 37 of Tamil Nadu's 39 seats to become the third-largest party in Parliament. The DMK was wiped out, winning no seat.