Deepa moves HC against state taking over Jayalalithaa’s assets

On coming up for admission before the first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, the bench directed the clubbing of the case with a similar plea filed by her brother Deepak, which is pending hearing.

The plea moved by Deepa challenges the Act, which provides for acquiring even movable assets such as furniture, books and jewelry left behind by Jayalalithaa at her residence and maintain the memorial through the foundation, comprising the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister as its members.

It may be noted that Deepak had challenged the acquisition of his aunt’s Poes Garden residence, Veda Nilayam, for conversion into a government memorial based on the said Act.

In the particular instance, a single judge while allowing the inauguration of the memorial held that it can’t be opened for public until the plea moved by the legal heirs are resolved.

The judge had also directed the government to hand over the keys of the memorial to the Registrar. However, on an appeal by the government, the first bench allowed the state to be in possession of the keys to maintain it while still not allowing public visits.