Chennai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday cancelled the acquisition of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, late J Jayalalithaa's Poes garden residence, by the state government after her legal heirs, her niece and nephew J Deepa and J Deepak, challenged the takeover, according to a report by NDTV .
The former AIADMK government of Tamil Nadu had proposed to convert the the 'Veda Nilayam' - home of the state's one of the most iconic Chief Minister- to a memorial. The AIADMK also said that it has a "responsibility and right" to convert the residence into a memorial and that it was the 'wholehearted desire' of the people of the state and AIADMK party workers.
This was also one of the pre-conditions of the unification of two conflicting sections of the AIADMK in 2017, few months after death of Jayalalithaa with the then Chief Minister E Palaniswami making this announcement.
In July 2020, the state government had deposited ₹ 67.9 crore in a city court to acquire the 0.55-acre property. However, Jayalalithaa's nephew and niece, who were announced her legal heirs by the court, had opposed, saying the acquisition would amount to "grabbing the property".
"She (Jayalalithaa) couldn't leave behind a will for various reasons... maybe because of the cases foisted against her, the prevailing political situation then and also she never knew that she would die," J Deepa was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Jayalalithaa had died in December 2016 after a long battle with illness. The four-time Chief Minister was revered as 'Amma' by the people of her state. Several of her welfare schemes including the Amma canteens made her one of the most memorable and strong leaders of the state.
After her death the chaos of succession grew within the AIADMK and government as her close aide VK Sasikala attempted to takeover the spot vacated by her. The party had split, with each group led by Mr Palaniswami and then rebel leader turned deputy CM O Panneerselvam.
With Inputs from Agencies
