DA case: HC upholds conviction of ex-Min’s wife

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court upheld the conviction and sentence imposed by a trial court in a 26-year-old disproportionate asset (DA) case against former minister AM Paramasivam’s wife.

Justice G Jayachandran dismissed the appeal petition of the former minister’s wife P Nallammal and confirmed the one-year imprisonment conviction imposed by the trial court.

In 1997 the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) booked a DA case against AM Paramasivam, who served as a labour minister in J Jayalalithaa’s Cabinet between 1991 and 1996, and his wife Nallammal.

The trial court which heard the DA case, confirmed the conviction and imposed a two-year jail sentence on the former minister with a Rs 10,000 fine and a year sentence imposed on his wife Nallammal, in 2000. Challenging this, the former minister and his wife moved the Madras High Court (MHC) to set aside the conviction.

While the case is pending in the High Court, the former minister died in 2015, hence he was abated from the case as deceased.

However, the High Court confirmed the lower court’s judgment and directed the trial court to take action against the appellant to incarcerate her.