Bangalore: ‘Jayalalithaa paid for Sudhakaran’s wedding’

The Hindu

Bangalore, Oct 01, 2014: The expenses for the lavish wedding ceremony of V.N. Sudhakaran in 1995 were indeed borne by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, the Special Court has said in its final judgment.

 

But the court brought down the total wedding expenditure claimed by the prosecution from Rs 6.45 crore to Rs 3 crore. It said evidence clinchingly established that the expenses were paid for by Ms. Jayalalithaa herself. She had before the wedding declared Mr. Sudhakaran her foster son, but later disowned him.

 

During the course of the trial, Ms. Jayalalithaa had claimed that the elaborate wedding was funded by the bride’s family and AIADMK party workers.

 

 

In the judgment accessed by The Hindu, the special judge John Michael Cunha said “that right from the erection of pandals, till the performance of marriage, the reception of guests and the accommodation of guests, all the expenses of the marriage were met by A1 [Ms. Jayalalithaa] except to the extent of Rs 14 lakh, which is said to have been contributed by the father of the bride.”

 

The judge said that while on the one hand she disowned the marriage expenses, Ms. Jayalalithaa had herself declared in her IT returns of 1996-97 spending for the marriage to the tune of Rs 29.92 lakh.

 

The judge said if it was indeed true that the expenses were borne by the bride’s father, there was no reason for Ms. Jayalalithaa to make payments by issuing cheques in connection with wedding expenses.

 

“The very fact, all the original documents, receipts and cheque leaves were seized from the office of PW 228, the auditor of Ms. Jayalalithaa, itself is sufficient to show that the entire expense was met only by A1,” the verdict said.

 

Though the court was of the view that the Rs 6.45 crore amount fixed by the DVAC appeared to be exorbitant, it observed that “having regard to the accommodation provided to more than 40 to 50 thousand people at two places and special arrangements made for the stage and decoration, the said amount does not appear to be unreasonable.”

 

The judgment said if the claim of the AIADMK party workers that they spent Rs 60 lakh for the façade alone is to be believed, having regard to the magnitude of the event, at least three times this amount could be estimated for putting up the pandals.

 

“Further, a minimum of Rs 40 to Rs 50 lakh might have been spent on food on the date of marriage, reception and for breakfast,” the court estimated.

 

“All of this would certainly entail an expense of more than Rs 3 crore even by modest and conservative estimation. A sum 3 crore is taken as expenses borne by A1,” the judge said.