File photo: Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa.
A Bangalore court is expected to decide on Saturday whether Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has accumulated assets worth Rs 66 crore, disproportionate to her known sources of income.
The prosecution claims her assets were worth just Rs 3 crore when she became the Chief Minister in 1991. While in office, she took a salary of just one rupee. But in her five-year tenure, the assets of Ms Jayalalithaa and three others who lived with her, went dramatically up to Rs 66.6 crore.
Investigators say the four accused - including Ms Jayalalithaa's foster son Sudhakaran whom she has disowned, her friend Sasikala and Sasikala's sister-in-law Ilavarasi - floated 32 firms, which acquired property but had no business activities.
These included a 1000-acre estate at Kodanadu in the Nilgiris, another thousand acres in Tirunelvelli, 28 kg of gold and 12,000 saris. Besides, Rs 5 crore was spent on the wedding of Sudhakaran in 1996.
Ms Jayalalithaa calls the case a political vendetta by arch-rival DMK. During the trial, she argued that the prosecution undervalued her earlier assets, ignored her income from other sources and exaggerated the value of her property.
She claimed she was a partner only in two companies, which publish her party newspaper Namadhu MGR. The Kodanadu estate, she claimed, was bought with the help of a bank loan and Sudhakaran's lavish wedding was paid for the bride's family her party workers.
The verdict in the 18-year-old case could be a make-or-break one for Ms Jayalalithaa. If convicted, she will have to step down and appoint a loyalist in her place. With state elections due in 2016, the opposition is keenly watching.
The case was shifted to a Bangalore court after Ms Jayalalithaa came back to power in 2001.
The workers of her party, the AIADMK - who are invoking divine help - say Ms Jayalalithaa has been acquitted in the other 13 cases filed by the DMK. "This case is a battle between justice and injustice and our Amma will win," said AIADMK legislator Om Shakthj Shekar.
DMK spokesperson TKS Ilangovan said, "We hope finally justice would prevail".