COURT CLEARS AN EX-CHIEF MINISTER IN INDIA OF GRAFT ON APPEAL

[For supporters, who call her Amma, or mother, her conviction was calamitous. Senior ministers wept at the swearing-in ceremony of her replacement, and some supporters reportedly set themselves on fire to protest her conviction. Supporters of Ms. Jayaram, who was briefly imprisoned before being granted bail, say that she was framed by her political opposition.]

By Nida Najar

Supporters of Jayalalithaa Jayaram, the former chief minister of the state of Tamil 

Nadu, celebrated  in Bangalore, India, on Monday after she was cleared of corruption 

charges. Credit Manjunath Kiran/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

NEW DELHI — The powerful former chief minister of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa Jayaram, on Monday was cleared of corruption charges on appeal, paving the way for a possible return to office.

Ms. Jayaram, 67, who served as chief minister until her conviction in September, had been accused of illegally accumulating about $10 million through shell companies during her first term in the 1990s, when she stated she earned a single rupee per month. After 18 years of court proceedings, she was sentenced in 2014 to four years in prison.

On Monday, the Karnataka High Court reversed a lower court’s conviction, which at the time had been hailed as a blow to political corruption. A search of Ms. Jayaram’s home after the case was filed turned up a gold belt studded with 2,389 diamonds, among other jewels.

“For the prosecution, it is an unexpected event,” said B. V. Acharya, the special public prosecutor appointed by the government in Karnataka, where the case had been moved. “We normally expect the judgment confirming the lower court order.”

In the 919-page judgment, Justice C. R. Kumaraswamy acquitted Ms. Jayaram and three others accused in the case of “all the charges leveled against them,” writing that the value of Ms. Jayaram’s assets were exaggerated. He wrote that the previous judgment “suffers from infirmity, and it is not sustainable in law.”

The acquittal of Ms. Jayaram, an iron-fisted leader who was once an actress, will most likely affect the political future of Tamil Nadu, where elections are due to be held next year.

“It confirms her position as the most important political leader of Tamil Nadu,” said A. R. Venkatachalapathy, a professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu.

For supporters, who call her Amma, or mother, her conviction was calamitous. Senior ministers wept at the swearing-in ceremony of her replacement, and some supporters reportedly set themselves on fire to protest her conviction. Supporters of Ms. Jayaram, who was briefly imprisoned before being granted bail, say that she was framed by her political opposition.

Workers on Monday erupted in joy outside the headquarters of her party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and outside Ms. Jayaram’s residence.

“We are very, very, very happy,” a supporter said, shouting over a delirious crowd outside Ms. Jayaram’s house in an interview with the Indian news channel NDTV. “One thing is proved: God is there.”

Mr. Venkatachalapathy said that her acquittal could send a message to other politicians accused of wrongdoing in India, which has a long history of brazen corruption among its political leaders.

“I think this is hope for a number of other politicians who are facing charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act,” he said.

@ The New York Times

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ISLAMISTS JAILED FOR CHOPPING OF TEACHER'S HAND 'BECAUSE EXAM PAPER INSULTED PROPHET MOHAMED'

[As part of a test for his Bachelor of Commerce students at the Christian college, he had given them a passage from a film screenplay in Malayalam language for them to correctly punctuate.]

By Lizzie Dearden

A teacher in Kerala, India said the passage did not refer to the Prophet

and was using the name of a film director also called Muhammed

A group of Islamists who cut off a teacher’s hand in revenge for “blasphemy” against the Prophet Mohamed have been jailed in India.

The 13 men, all members of radical group the Popular Front of India, were handed sentences of between three and eight years at a National Investigative Agency court, NDTV reported.

They had been found guilty of involvement in the attack on TJ Joseph, a professor at Newman College in the town of Thodupuzha, Kerala.

He was on his way home from a Catholic church service in July 2010 with his mother and sister when their car was stopped.

“As the car was locked from inside, they broke the glass and pulled me out,” he told NDTV. “The attackers injured me all over and severed my right hand.”

He was taken to hospital, where doctors managed to re-attach the hand in several rounds of surgery.

The gang claimed to be seeking retribution for alleged insults against the Prophet Mohamed in an exam paper Mr Joseph had set four months before.

As part of a test for his Bachelor of Commerce students at the Christian college, he had given them a passage from a film screenplay in Malayalam language for them to correctly punctuate.

Reportedly taken from a state languages book citing the 1999 film Garshom, it featured an imaginary conversation between a character called Muhammed and God, who called him a “son of a b****” and a “dog”, according to one translation.

Mr Joseph said he named the character after film director P. T. Kunju Muhammed and did not realise the people would associate the common name with the Muslim Prophet.

But a local newspaper did a story on the question paper, sparking controversy , protests and allegations of blasphemy in the community.

Police arrested the professor for “outraging religious feelings”, although he was later acquitted of all charges, and Newman College suspended him from work.

Death threats started almost immediately and Mr Joseph said he escaped three attempted attacks before his hand was hacked off.

He was not invited back to work until November 2013 and his wife killed herself months later, after seeking treatment for stress and depression.

The 13 men jailed in relation to the attack were handed a fine of Rs. 8 lakh (£8,130) by judge P Sasidharan, which will be given to Mr Joseph as compensation.

@ The Independent