J Jayalalithaa has been granted bail by the Supreme Court. The former Tamil Nadu chief minister has been in a Bangalore jail for almost three weeks after she was convicted in a corruption case and sentenced to four years in jail.

Jayalalithaa moved the Supreme Court after the Karnataka High Court rejected her bail plea. She was represented in court today by Constitutional expert Fali Nariman.

The 66-year-old had sought bail on account of her age and health. She said she suffers from diabetes, hypertension, cellulitis and other ailments.

Jayalalithaa has also said since the Karnataka High Court is currently hearing criminal appeals from 2006, her appeal against the sentence will not be disposed of in four years and hence, the Supreme Court should suspend it.

On September 27, a special court in Bangalore convicted Ms Jayalalithaa after finding her guilty of amassing wealth disproportionate to her known sources of income during her first tenure as chief minister from 1991 to 1996.

The same day, the court sentenced her to four years in jail and imposed a fine of Rs. 100 crore. Her friend Sasikala Natarajan and two others were also given jail terms. Jayalalithaa moved the High Court, which dismissed her plea for bail on October 7.

Though the public prosecutor told the High Court that he had no objection to Ms Jayalalithaa being given conditional bail, Judge AV Chandrashekhra had rejected her plea, saying, "corruption amounts to a violation of human rights and leads to economic imbalance".

Jayalalithaa's conviction meant she was disqualified as a legislator in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling and had to step down as chief minister. Her loyalist O Panneerselvam took over as chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

The case was shifted out of Tamil Nadu in 2001 to keep the trial free of political pressure.

Her conviction was followed by mass mourning and statewide protests by her followers.

Tamil Nadu votes for a new government in 2016 and if her conviction is not set aside, Ms Jayalalithaa would not be able to contest.
(NDTV)