VK Sasikala, who is 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.  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. 

According to reports close to the developments, the prison head office of the Karnataka government has been reviewing and considering the early release request moved by the jailed leader, whose actual sentence comes to an end by February 2021. Sasikala had submitted her request for early release to the Parappana Agrahara Jail authorities on November 19 and in her petition, she had said that she had 129 days of remission in her credit and she would need only 69 days of that period to be released from jail as on November 19. 

The reports say that her request for early release has been forwarded to the head of the department for their consideration and it has been expected that the concerned authorities will take a final call on her early release, which has been keenly watched by the political parties in Tamil Nadu particularly the ruling ADMK party as Sasikala would be released from the prison ahead of the state assembly polls. 

Sasikala and her two convicted relatives were slapped with Rs 10 crore fine amount each. Recently, the Karnataka prison department had replied to an RTI query in which it had stated that Sasikala would be released from the prison on January 27, 2021, and if she fails to pay the penalty of Rs 10 crore, she would be awarded with one more year of the prison sentence. In October, Sasikala's legal team had begun the process of paying the fine amount last month. 

Recently, her legal team had paid the fine amount in the court following which Sasikala had moved her petition for early release. With the petition of early release, the reports say she would likely get released by early January. Speaking to a news agency, Sasikala's counsel Raja Senthur Pandian had on Wednesday said that Sasikala needs only 56 of her earned remission days to be released from jail.  

Remission is the reduction of the term of a prison sentence, usually due to good behavior or conduct. Earlier, the counsel said that Sasikala is entitled to an ordinary remission of 129 days for good behavior and also for not seeking frequent paroles. 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.