Chronology of events leading to J Jayalalithaa's return as Tamil Nadu CM
Chennai: AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa who was sworn in Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on Saturday for the fifth time has traversed through several ups and downs in her political career spanning four decades. A chronology of main events are as follows:
June 24, 1991: Jayalalithaa sworn in Chief Minister after she leads AIADMK to a huge win in assembly elections.
May, 1996: Amidst charges of corruption during its rule, AIADMK loses in the assembly elections. DMK returns to power.
Dec 7, 1996: Jayalalitha arrested. Charges of corruption, including accumulation of disproportionate assets, follows.
April, 1997: DMK Government sets up three special courts to try 47 corruption cases against Jayalalithaa, her former cabinet colleagues and others.
1997: Prosecution launched against Jayalalithaa, her close friend Saskala and two others in a Chennai Court in DA case.
June 4, 1997: Charge-sheeted in DA case.
1999: Discharged in Coal import deal case by special court; Upheld by Madras High Court.
February 2, 2000: Special court convicts her in Pleasant Stay Hotel case related to permission granted for construction allegedly flouting rules. Trial progresses in DA case. By August 2000, as many as 250 out of 260 prosecution witnesses examined.
October, 2000: A special court in Chennai convicts Jayalalithaa in TANSI land deal case.
May 14, 2001: Jayalalithaa leads AIADMK to landslide win in assembly elections; sworn in Chief Minister though she was disqualified to contest elections.
September 21, 2001: Jayalalithaa unseated as CM after Supreme Court quashes her appointment as she was disqualified to contest polls due to TANSI case conviction.
December 4, 2001: Madras High Court acquits Jayalalithaa in the TANSI case and Pleasant Stay Hotel case.
Feb 21, 2002: Jayalalithaa elected to Assembly in a bypoll from Andipatti constituency.
March 2, 2002: Jayalalithaa sworn in as Chief Minister. In the DA case, three public prosecutors resign as also senior counsel. Several prosecution witnesses resile from their earlier depositions.
November 18, 2003: On a petition by DMK, Supreme Court transfers the trial in DA case to Bengaluru.
