Convict Queen
Though AIADMK leader Jayalalitha was debarred from contesting the elections on grounds of her conviction in a corruption case, she was sworn in as chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Will her aggressive game plan work? And should popular mandate overrule judicial verdicts?

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FROM THE EDITOR IN CHIEF

India can be a confusing place. One minute you are chief minister of a state, next you lose an election. And then, you are charged with corruption, convicted and sentenced to jail. You appeal, your sentence is stayed but the conviction is pending appeal. Meanwhile, it's election time again but you are debarred from contesting by the local returning officer because of your conviction. Regardless, your party wins a landslide. And you become chief minister again-no matter that you have not been elected. Such is the strange tale of the indomitable Tamil politician Jayaram Jayalalitha.

So, you have the ridiculous situation in which you cannot contest an election but can become chief minister-or prime minister, for that matter.

Previous covers on Jayalalitha

When the founding fathers of India's Constitution charted out what it takes for a governor to invite a person to assume the office of chief minister, they made a simple assumption in Article 164: the governor can invite a person representing a political formation even if the person is not at the time of appointment a member of the legislature, provided the person can be elected within six months of the appointment. But nobody thought to add riders such as those disqualified won't count. Naive as it may seem, the founding fathers had never imagined that a situation warranting such riders would ever arise.

That a political mandate can override a judicial decision has very serious implications not just for Tamil Nadu but for the functioning of our democracy. For our cover story this week, we have traversed a cross-section of legal opinion to see whether Jayalalitha's appointment is correct. And if not, how the anomaly can be rectified. There is also the ticklish issue of what will happen six months later when she will need to be elected. What happens to the chief ministership if Jayalalitha is still debarred? And if the status is reversed, it will question the credibility of the Election Commission. What makes things worse is that there are still more than a dozen cases against Jayalalitha in various stages of prosecution. Since she has the power to change the public prosecutor it raises questions about the judicial process.

Obviously, the faith our Republic's founding fathers placed on the moral stature of our politicians was seriously misplaced.

(Aroon Purie)

MetroScape

Delhi Cinema:
"Flicks Down Under"

Mumbai Restaurant:
Karma

Kolkata Restaurant:
Teej

The Madhya Pradesh governor orders a CBI inquiry into a land allotment by the chief minister to the Nai Duniya group, kicking off a constitutional crisis. INDIA TODAY Special Correspondent Neeraj Mishra reports in
Conflict Of Interest.