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Possibly following up on the offer made before the Supreme Court, Sasikala Natarajan, confidante of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, has offered to surrender without monetary compensation the two TANSI properties that were purportedly purchased in open tender.
Responding to a 1993 writ plea filed by R S Bharati, convenor of the lawyers' wing of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, seeking to declare the sale illegal, Sasikala said her offer was not related to the outcome of the relevant case before the Madras high court or the case pending before the Supreme Court.
Pointing out that the petitioner had not sought to declare the property purchased from TANSI Enamel Wires illegal, Sasikala said she was still willing to surrender it along with the one purchased from TANSI Foundry, which Bharati wanted declared illegal.
Arguing Jayalalithaa's case before the Supreme Court, which is hearing Bharati's appeal against the Madras high court's acquittal of the chief minister in the criminal case, senior counsel K K Venugopal had made a similar suggestion last week.
Jayalalithaa has since followed it up with a written offer in the Supreme Court. So has Sasikala's counsel.
If the courts accept these offers, it could have the effect of converting a criminal case into a civil suit. At least, it could go some way in mitigating any penalty, if the apex court in particular were to find substance in Bharati's argument.
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