Ex-minister gets 3-year jail term in assets case

Special judge for corruption cases, M Gomathinayagam, also awarded Arangayanagam a fine of Rs 50,000. However, the other three accused, the former minister’s wife and two sons, were acquitted.

The charge against Aranganayagam was that during his tenure as a minister in the first regime of J Jayalalithaa during 1991-96, he accumulated assets in his name and in the names of his wife and two sons to the tune of Rs 1.15 crore through questionable means. The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Department had registered a case against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The charge-sheet was filed in 2006. 

The judge, while ordering the attachment of the properties purchased by Arangayanagam through his disproportionate income, however, granted bail to him on the condition that he execute a personal bond for Rs 25,000 with two sureties for a like sum.