The News Minute | October 2, 2014 | 2.30 pm ISTThe pandal of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s now disowned foster son Sudhakaran’s wedding stage was the size of a very large house.According to the judgement, of which The News Minute has a copy, the cost of the wedding arrangements were one of the factors examined in the conviction of Jayalalithaa along with her associates Sasikala, Sudhakaran and Ilavarasi.According to the witnesses who deposed for the prosecution, Sudhakaran’s wedding in 1995 was indeed a elaborate affair. In the judgement however, judge John Michael Cunha pegged to total expenditure at around Rs 8 crore and expenses borne by Jayalalithaa at Rs 3 crore. According to witnesses, a permanent wedding stage was constructed with brick, steel sheets and asbestos roof. This included two bedrooms for the bride and groom, two reception halls and bathrooms and was fitted with four air conditioners. All this was spread across 9,392 square feet, and its estimated value according to the judgement was around Rs 35,22,000.The special court that tried Jayalalithaa and others relied extensively on the testimony of prosecution witness 200 K P Muttuswami, chief engineer, PWD Tamil Nadu. In his judgement, Judge Cunha noted that Muttuswami had “withstood the cross-examination successfullyâ€. Five pandals with coconut leaves were created at the MRC Nagar ground measuring 70 x 750 feet for the wedding ceremony. Two pandals were constructed for serving food to the VIP guests. There were eight kitchen sheds.To ensure water supply for the wedding, five borewells had been dug to ensure water supply besides the water supplied through trucks. This construction took one and a half months to complete, and a week before the wedding, Jayalalithaa and Sasikala inspected the work. The expenses for several of the works were paid through cheques from the chief minister’s house. Muttuswami had also told the court that he received an invitation to the wedding, along with a silver plate, silk sari, silk dhoti and angavastram, which he handed over to the Anti Corruption Police during investigation. A tailor took the measurements and stitched 22 suits, 22 shirts, 3 sherwanis and 3 jubbas and received a cheque for Rs.1,41,025/- towards the stitching charge.Another witness, AR Rahman testified before court that he received a silver plate with wedding invitation, 100 such plates were purchased.The judge concluded that though Jayallaithaa has vehemently contended that she was in no way involved in the marriage and that she did not meet any marriage expenses the oral and documentary evidence "clinchingly establishes" that, right from the erection of pandals till the performance of marriage and reception of guests and accommodation of the guests, all the expenses for the marriage were met by Jayalalithaa, except to the extent of Rs.14 lakhs which is stated to have been contributed by the father of the bride.