MDMK General Secretary Vaiko has been pronounced guilty on charges of sedition and sentenced to one year in jail by a special court here today. The case pertains to a speech he made in 2009 in support of the Sri Lanka-based separatist outfit LTTE.

A special court here that exclusively hears cases against elected representatives found Vaiko guilty under IPC section 124 (a) that deals with sedition. He has been sentenced to undergo 1 year simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000. The court allowed suspension of sentence.

After the judge read the judgement, Vaiko, walked towards the podium and shouted at the judge that he will "continue talking" and wants the maximum , severe punishment. “Unless there is venom in the mind of the judge such punishment would not have been given," he said.

Vaiko's party MDMK has proposed his name as candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls. It's not clear whether the conviction would disqualify him from contesting the elections.

Vaiko made the speech on July 15, 2009 in a book release function held in a hall in Chennai.

The case was filed by then DMK government in Tamil Nadu and the prosecution argued that most of the speech by Vaiko were against Indian government and conveyed a message of vengeance against Central government and to create law and order problems.

The conviction has come at a time when Vaiko is eyeing to enter Rajya Sabha with the support of DMK, which is now an ally of Vaiko's MDMK