Sasikala and Ilavarasi had a corridor to themselves in the Bengaluru Central Prison when they were lodged there in 2017; they had free movement inside the prison; and they met visitors for several hours at a time, completely against the prison rules. These were allegations made by IPS officer Roopa in mid-2017, and the one-man commission that was constituted to probe her claims has vindicated her. TNM has accessed a copy of the Vinay Kumar commission report – which was submitted to the government in 2017, the details of which have not been made public until now.

In his report, the retired IAS officer found that the prison officials had falsified several records for VK Sasikala – the aide of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa – and her sister-in-law Ilavarasi, who have been lodged there in a disproportionate assets case. Among the irregularities found by the Vinay Kumar commission are – an entire corridor with five rooms being left empty for Sasikala’s use, under the guise of providing security to her; extended visiting hours and falsification of records to cover this up; and free movement within jail premises with the help of jail officials. Why the commission report is important In mid-2017, the allegation of special privileges to some prisoners including Sasikala and Abdul Karim Telgi had caused embarrassment to the Karnataka government, then led by Siddaramaiah. IPS officer Roopa, who was the DIG of Prisons in the state back then, had submitted a report where she alleged a quid-pro-quo arrangement between jail officials and high profile prisoners. The report was submitted to the then-DGP Prisons HN Satyanarayana Rao – who disagreed with Roopa – and was also leaked to the media.

“This can only be explained as deliberate misreporting on the part of the concerned prison officials to escape falling within the prohibition of Rule 601 of the Karnataka Prison Manual 1978. “This can only be explained as deliberate misreporting on the part of the concerned prison officials to escape falling within the prohibition of Rule 601 of the Karnataka Prison Manual 1978.

As a fallout of the same, both Roopa and Satyanarayana were transferred out of their positions as were other senior staff of the jail. Retired IAS officer Vinay Kumar was then tasked to find the truth in the matter, and he submitted his report later in 2017, after which the case was shifted to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). However, so far the ACB has not made any arrests in the case, and until now, the details of the Vinay Kumar report were not made public. Separate corridor Roopa had alleged that an entire corridor with five cells were cordoned off for Sasikala (and Ilavarasi) to use exclusively.

The Vinay Kumar commission found this to be true, when they visited the prison on July 19, 2017. “The entire block of 5 cells, together with their corridor, was open to use by Sasikala and Ilavarasi alone, not by anyone else. The shelves were empty but tell-tale marks of the things having being removed from them were still there,” the report says. The commission also notes that while the prison officials had claimed that this was done as a security measure, as Sasikala – being a high profile prisoner – could face threats, the officials had done nothing to investigate the source or scope of these threats even several months after she was lodged in the prison. The report also takes note of the cramping caused in the rest of the cells occupied by other female convicts.

“It is pertinent to observe here that the authorised strength of the Female Barrack is 100 prisoners and it has 28 cells i.e. An average of about 4 prisoners per cell. When 5 cells are taken away for 2 prisoners, the cramping of prisoners in the remaining 23 cells will be much more than the authorised level. On 24.7.2017 the number of prisoners in Female Barrack was 124 i.e an average of over 5 prisoners in the remaining 23 cells, excluding 5 for Sasikala,” reads the report.

Free movement within prison Taking cognisance of three videos submitted to the commission by Roopa, and other CCTV footage from inside the prison, the commission concluded that Sasikala enjoyed free movement within the prison. The proof includes short video clips of Sasikala and Ilavarasi, one of which shows them going out of the female barrack with a bag in hand. “These short video clips carry evidence of the fact that they have the freedom to use their personal clothings and are escorted by Superintendent Anitha, who had been appointed their security incharge by the DGP & lG Prison,” the report nortes.

V tom vide kak oni vhodili v reshaemye uravneniya. Prichem, esli by pri etom ne ispol'zovalas' prichinno-sledstvennaya svyaz', ob'edinyayushaya po vremeni otdel'nye oboroty planety vokrug Solnca, to nalichiem etogo promezhutochnogo zvena mozhno bylo by prenebrech', t.k. Kstati, analiticheskim resheniem uravnenii dvizheniya v oskuliruyushih elementah orbit ob'yasnyaetsya to, chto N'yukom v svoih rabotah privodit ne neposredstvenno, naprimer, vekovoe smeshenie perigeliya, a ego proizvedenie na ekscentrisitet i ne vekovoe smeshenie uzla voshozhdeniya, a ego proizvedenie na sinus ugla naklona, t.e. Takim obrazom, s vvedeniem v metodiku obrabotki dannyh nablyudenii razlichnyh teorii, my teper', obrabatyvaya eti dannye, poluchaem ne eksperimental'nye parametry orbit, a eksperimental'no-teoreticheskie, kotorye maksimal'no sootvetstvuyut toi teorii s pomosh'yu kotoroi byla postroena matematicheskaya model', parametry kotoroi optimizirovalis' po dannym nablyudenii. Programma skloneniya po padezham.