VK Sasikala, who was the closest aide of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, has moved her petition seeking early release from the prison. Her petition of seeking remission of her sentence and premature release has come at a high time when she is two months away from her actual release and when her acquittal has been in the political spotlight. 

Sasikala has been serving her four-year prison sentence at the Central prison in Parappana Agrahara in Bengaluru after getting convicted for the disproportionate assets case in which Jayalalithaa was the first accused. Sasikala has been lodged in prison since February 2017 along with her relatives Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran who are also convicted in the same case. 

All three of them were ordered to pay Rs 10 crore each as a fine failing which they would be confined in the prison for one more year. As Sasikala is nearing her actual release, she has now been applied for early release. According to reports close to the developments, Sasikala has sought remission and premature release from prison and her early release application has been forwarded to the concerned state officials by the prison authorities. 

The reports say that her remission application has been forwarded to the head of the department for consideration. However, the higher officials are yet to decide on her application. Her release has been in the political spotlight in Tamil Nadu as it was speculated that the state ruling party would face intra-party furor and dispute after her release. The current leaders -Edappadi Palaniswami and Panneerselvam had rebelled against Sasikala and removed her from the party following her conviction. 

Two months back, the Karnataka prison department has replied to the RTI query to the activist in which it had said that Sasikala would be released from the prison on January 27, 2021, and if she fails to pay the fine of Rs 10 crore, she would be lodged in prison for one more year. The reports say that Sasikala's legal team had begun the process of paying the fine amount last month.  

Her legal team has submitted details regarding Rs 10 crore that is to be paid as a fine in an open court and the team has been waiting for the official documents accepting the fine to reach their hands. The move from the legal team has come a month after Sasikala had written to them on her release. She wrote to her counsel in October and asked the team to keep the fine amount ready and she had expressed confidence that she would be released early. 

Some reports suggest that the legal team had already paid the fine amount following which the jailed leader has now moved her application for early release. Earlier, Sasikala's counsel Raja Senthoor Pandian had said that Sasikala can walk out any time before the jail term officially ends on January 27, 2021, if her remission of 129 days is taken into account. Remission is the reduction of the term of a prison sentence, usually due to good behavior or conduct. The counsel said that Sasikala is entitled to an ordinary remission of 129 days for good behavior and also for not seeking frequent paroles. 

With the petition of early release, the reports say she would likely get released by early January. She would be getting released three to four months ahead of the Tamil Nadu assembly polls. The developments around her release have keenly been watched by the political parties -particularly by the ADMK as the party is gearing up for the assembly polls. Her release has been expected to cause a political storm and disputes within the ADMK when Edappadi Palaniswami is trying to keep his stronghold in becoming the party's face after Jayalalithaa.