NE LEGAL BUREAU
CHENNAI, AUG 8
The Madras High Court has refused to stay the government’s acquisition of Veda Nilayam, and wanted to know where Deepa was residing when her aunt and former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was alive. The Court put forth the question while hearing a case filed by Deepa seeking an interim stay on the acquisition process.
The single judge bench refused to pass the order and referred the case to be posted under an appropriate bench.
On Friday, the case came up for hearing before a single judge bench, Justice Anand Venkatesh and the judge refused to provide interim stay. The judge also sought to know where Deepa was residing when her aunt was alive.
Responding to this, the counsel said that they were staying as a joint family before Jayalalithaa became Chief Minister, according to media reports.
In her petition, Deepa said the government is not allowed to acquire private land under Land Acquisition Act 2013 for converting into a memorial. She also said that acquiring the Poes Garden residence will hinder the Arumughaswamy Commission of inquiry since the former Chief Minister was taken to Apollo Hospital from Poes Garden.
On July 25, the Tamil Nadu government paid a deposit of Rs 67.9 crore and became an owner of Veda Nilayam along with the Income Tax Department. In May, the Madras High Court declared that the niece and nephew of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, Deepa and Deepak, are the legal heirs of the property. The siblings then contended the state government’s move and challenged it in separate suits in the Madras High Court.
On Friday, the bench said that Deepak and Deepa are ready to sell other properties for creating a trust, so the present petition should also be listed before the same Bench. Refusing to pass interim order, the judge moved the case to the Chief Justice of Madras High Court to schedule the case to a bench for further hearing.
