As Sasikala has been released from prison after serving four years of imprisonment, she is now been surfaced with the question that can she able to contest in the elections for public office after serving the verdict of imprisonment. The question arises as per the provision that was enshrined in the Representation of the People's Act, 1958. 

As per section 8 of the Representation of the People's Act, a person is barred from contesting in the elections for six years after serving the prison sentence if he/she was convicted under the Prevention of Corruption Act. It was this act that removed late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa from the office of Chief Minister after she got convicted in the Disproportionate Assets Case in which Sasikala was convicted as the second accused. 

The Supreme Court had convicted them in February 2017 and dictated the verdict of four years imprisonment and Rs 10 crores fine each. However, as Jayalalithaa had passed away in December 2016, two months ahead of the judgment, she was removed from the sentence, and Sasikala had gone to Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru at the time when she was hoping to go to the Secretariat as the next Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.  

Sasikala had spent four years in prison and she got released last week- on January 27, 2021. However, as she has got convicted under the Prevention of Corruption Act, Section 8 of the Representation of the People's Act applies to her and it legally bars Sasikala from contesting in the elections for six more years and as per the legal state, 66-year-old Sasikala can't be able to contest in the election till 2027.  

For someone like Sasikala, who was the closest aide of Jayalalithaa, who dreamt of becoming the Chief Minister at the high time when Tamil Nadu is heading for the assembly polls, six years would be too long and as she already lost control of the party in four years, she has been mulling to plunge into active politics not to further lose the control. Though she has been in rest after her ten days of hospitalization for the COVID-19 viral infection, she has been discussing the ways that can be explored to find loopholes in the section with the view of contesting in the upcoming assembly polls. 

According to our sources, the supporters of Sasikala and her legal team have been hoping to find a relaxation of section 8 for claiming an exemption for the former ADMK General Secretary, who has now become archnemesis for the current ADMK leaders. Though the legal book prohibits her to contest in the elections, her legal team has been working to break the prohibition legally. 

At the time when they want a precedent for quoting the relaxation for Sasikala from the provision of section 8, they found a judgement for Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang. The sources say that Tamang was imprisoned under the same clause of the Prevention of the Corruption Act and he got released from prison in 2018. Legally, he was barred from contesting the elections for six years. However, he moved his petition to the Chief Election Commission and demanded the Commission to repeal the ban for him in becoming the Chief Minister. 

After considering his petition, the Chief Election Commission had removed the ban following which he contested and became the Chief Minister. Quoting Tamang's case, the sources say that Sasikala's supporters and her legal team are discussing moving the petition to the Chief Electoral body to remove the ban before Sasikala in contesting the elections. It has been reported that Sasikala's legal team would file the petition to the Election Commission even before the latter announces the election dates for Tamil Nadu.