Sept. 21 :    Sept. 21:  After a widely-expected Supreme Court judgment unseating her, Jayalalithaa sprang an unexpected choice as successor in O. Pannerselvam. The Supreme Court today declared that Jayalalithaa's appointment as chief minister of Tamil Nadu was 'not legal and valid' and, therefore, 'she cannot continue to function as such'. Justice S.P. Bharucha, delivering the judgment for the five-member Constitution bench, said: 'We are of the view that a person who is convicted for a criminal offence and sentenced to imprisonment for a period of not less than two years cannot be appointed the chief minister of a state.' Jayalalithaa was convicted for two years in a land scam and the Election Commission had disqualified her from contesting. This is the first instance in the history of independent India of a convicted person being sworn in and then losing her post as chief minister, making Jayalalithaa the holder of a record double. Since the verdict was virtually a dismissal notice, she did not need to even resign and announced immediately that the ADMK would elect a new leader. But the 'election' was not as swift as the declaration of intent. For nine hours and 37 minutes, Tamil Nadu went without an elected government. The uncertainty, which began at 10.35 am when the court verdict was delivered, lasted till 8.12 pm. The new leader turned out to be Pannerselvam, setting Tamil Nadu up for a mode of governance that will be midway between the Laloo Prasad-Rabri Devi and the Bal Thackeray model. Jayalalithaa had plucked Pannerselvam out of his backbencher status by giving a ticket in the May polls and then making him a minister. The party's Theni district secretary, he is believed to be proximate to one of the relatives of Sasikala, Jayalalithaa's close friend. 'You will see what kind of control I have,' she shot back in reply to queries about the change in her status from queen to queen mother. What was seen at the Raj Bhavan Durbar Hall, where the new ministers were sworn, showed that little has changed. Most ministers-to-be fell at Jayalalithaa's feet before proceeding to the dais and several dissolved in tears. The ministers looked askance when asked to pose for a group photograph without Amma. Soon after the photo session, the new chief minister paid obeisance to his predecessor and Sasikala. Today's verdict does not overturn Jayalalithaa's actions as chief minister. The unanimous judgment by the bench said: 'All acts (of her) performed as chief minister of the state shall not be adversely affected by the reason of this order.' Ruling on a batch of six petitions challenging Jayalalithaa's appointment, the judges said the Governor's decision could not be above the Constitution. Justice Brijesh Kumar, in a separate and concurring judgment, said: 'The contention that the Governor is bound by the decision of the majority party is not a correct proposition.' Justice G.B. Pattanaik, who too gave a separate but concurring judgement, said: 'It would be a blatant violation of constitutional laws to allow her to continue as chief minister, howsoever short the period may be, on the theory that the majority of the members of the legislative Assembly elected her as the leader and that is the expression of the will of the people.' Justice Pattanaik even suggested 'it is high time that Parliament considered a question of bringing the conviction under the Prevention of Corruption Act as a disqualification under Section 8(1) of the Representation of the People's Act, so that a person on being convicted of an offence punishable under PCA could be disqualified from being chosen as a member or continuing as a member of the legislative Assembly or Parliament'. The current practice is that a sitting legislator, even if convicted under criminal laws or PCA, continues to be a member and is not disqualified from contesting elections. The latest example is Kerala's Balakrishna Pillai who was a minister. He was also convicted like Jayalalithaa but, being a sitting member, his conviction was automatically, as is the provision in law, stayed and he contested in the last elections. Pillai won and his appeal against the conviction is pending. This part of the law was not challenged and the judges, pointing this out, said: 'We are not passing any judgment over this provision.' The verdict ended Jayalalithaa's 131-day tenure. Governor C. Rangarajan, successor to Fathima Beevi who had installed Jayalalithaa, swore in a 24-member ministry in the evening. Except one, all the members are from the previous ministry..