Something stinks, we dare not say what.

Two days back the Supreme Court convicted VK Sasikala, friend and confidante of former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa, in the DA case, as it is known in the media. DA usually means Dearness Allowance, which is a handout given to government officials in addition to their huge salaries, so that they turn up for work, and which keeps rising inexorably every month. However, here it means Disproportionate Assets, a term used to describe loot, bribes and extortion earned by politicians and civil servants, as a result of their power. The story goes back to 1996 when Subramaniam Swamy filed a case against Jayalalithaa that she had amassed a fortune of Rs 666.5 million as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, from 1991-1996. On 7 December, 1996 Jayalalithaa was arrested, and then the circus began, as is usual in India. By August 2000, the prosecution had examined 250 witnesses, but still had 10 more left. In May 2001 Jayalalithaa became chief minister again but in September she was forced to resign. No problem. Her conviction was set aside and she became chief minister again on 21 February, 2002. The case was transferred to Karnataka by the Supreme Court in 2003, because a fair trial was not possible in Tamil Nadu. Did the Supreme Court punish judges in Tamil Nadu? No. BV Acharya appointed Special Public Prosecutor on 19 February, 2005, resigned on 12 August 2012. If he had problems with the case why did he drag on for 7 years? One Bhavani Singh was appointed in his stead but after a few months the Karnataka government removed him. The Supreme Court reinstated him in September 2013. On 14 March, 2014 a Special Court fined Singh one day's wages for dragging his feet and on 27 September 2014 the court convicted Jayalalithaa and 3 accomplices, but on 11 May 2015 Karnataka High Court acquitted all. On 5 December 2016 Jayalalithaa died. At last, after 21 years of circus we get a verdict. The Supreme Court said that the Karnataka High Court got its math wrong. Why? If the judges of the high court were so spectacularly wrong what action will be taken against them? In a belated show of strength the Supreme Court has asked Sasikala to go to jail immediately. Will she stay in jail? Politicians never stay in jail, whatever their crime. Lalu Prasad Yadav was convicted of theft and sentenced to 5 years in prison. He is out on indefinite bail since 2013. Dragging cases on for decades is the worst form of injustice. What are the judges going to do about it? Who gains from this blatant abuse of the law? Lawyers. Senior lawyers, who defend these criminals, charge Rs 500,000 to Rs 1.5 million per hearing. Every postponement means money. Appear for a few minutes, ask for postponement, judge agrees without asking why he is not prepared, pocket millions and go home. Are we wrong if we get a bad smell?