Jaya's Veda Nilayam - tale of a house hounded by court cases

'Veda Nilayam', the residence of former Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa, which was finally declared a memorial for the late leader by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on January 28 following the government's successful last-ditch effort to get the judiciary's nod, has forever been haunted by court cases.

Chennai (Tamil Nadu):Former Chief Minister and AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa's residence 'Veda Nilayam' at Poes Garden in Chennai is as mysterious and puzzling as its former occupant's life, bogged down as it was in case after case.

Ironically, a bone of contention between the late leader's heirs and the party itself that she had led, the house was finally declared a memorial for Jayalalithaa on Thursday (January 28) by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, thanks to the green signal from the High Court on January 27 late evening.

Though the ruling party seemed to have scored brownie points in the ongoing legal battle with its late leader's legal heirs and her brother's children - Deepak and Deepa – the High Court set a rider to its order allowing the government to declare open the Jayalalithaa memorial at her house, saying that since the heirs' writ petitions were still pending against government's acquisition of Jayalalithaa's house and the fixation of Rs 69 crore as compensation for the house acquisition, the government should not allow the memorial to be opened for public viewing.

The court also said the function could be held at the entrance of the house at Poes Garden in Chennai, but the main building should not be opened even at the time of function since the petitioners – the former CM's heirs – had stated that the process of taking an inventory of the movables in the 'Veda Nilayam' and their valuation had not yet been completed.

"The right, title and interests of the heirs cannot be marginalised," the court said, adding that after the function, the keys should be handed over to the Registrar.

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Going on an appeal against some portions of the court order, government Advocate General Vijay Narayan and government Pleader V Jayaprakash Narayanan pleaded with the Bench led by Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee through videoconferencing facility that the order against the opening of the main building of Jayalalithaa's memorial be quashed. Disposing of this appeal filed on the late evening on January 27, the court, however, granted the government only the permission to declare open the memorial, saying that the case could be again taken up on January 29.

After Jayalalithaa's death on December 5 in 2016, Palaniswami, who donned the mantle of the Chief Minister, weathering several odds, announced on August 17 in 2017 that her house would be converted into a memorial. Ignoring strong objection from her heirs to his plan, the Palaniswami-led AIADMK government stuck to its guns, bringing in a law and going about the task of acquiring the property for the memorial.

Meanwhile, AIADMK functionaries Pukazhendi and Janakiraman filed a case in the High Court, praying that an administrator be appointed for the 'Veda Nilayam'. The Income Tax department, for its part, argued in the court that the government's attempt to acquire Jayalalithaa's residence should not be allowed as the late leader owed the department Rs 36.96 crore by way of income tax dues.

In a turn of events, both Deepak and Deepa moved the High Court, praying that they be declared as Jayalalithaa's heirs and assured the court that they would clear their aunt's income tax dues. The court, in its turn, declared them Jayalalithaa's heirs. Consequently, Deepak filed a case in the High Court, demanding the handover of the house's keys to him. The case is still pending.

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In the meantime, the Tamil Nadu government deposited the compensation amount of Rs 67.90 crore in the city civil court and declared that the 'Veda Nilayam' had been nationalised, setting in motion its initiative for the memorial.

Spread over the sprawling 10-ground land (24,000 square feet), the grand and swanky three-storied building is now home to memories of Jayalalithaa and her memorabilia including 8,376 books and 394 mementoes. There are, in all, 32,000 movables in the memorial now including 14 varieties of gold ornaments weighing 4.372 kg and 867 silver articles and utensils weighing 601.424 kg.

The house is a standing testimony to Jayalalithaa's career in both cinema and politics, shedding light on her memorable events and people through black-and-white photographs and various articles bearing the stamp of her personality.