Sasikala’s parole plea under consideration, says prison official

The prison authorities in Karnataka are considering a plea by jailed AIADMK leader V. K. Sasikala to release her on parole for 15 days to meet her ailing husband, who is awaiting a liver transplant at a Chennai hospital. “Yesterday, we received an application from Sasikala, urging us to release her on a 15-day parole. She has said that her husband is unwell and admitted in a hospital in Chennai. Our legal cell is considering the plea,” Parappana Agrahara Prison Superintendent P S Ramesh said. Sasikala’s (60) husband M. Natarajan (74) was admitted in the liver intensive care unit of a corporate hospital last month following a kidney and liver failure. He is awaiting a deceased donor liver transplantation and a kidney transplantation, according to doctors. Sasikala has been lodged in jail since February after the Supreme Court upheld her conviction by a special court in a disproportionate assets case. Her relatives Ilavarasi and V.N. Sudhakaran are also serving a four-year jail term. Sasikala’s nephew and sidelined AIADMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran had said in Chennai on Monday that she had applied for a 15-day parole to meet her ailing husband.