Former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s niece J. Deepa on Thursday told the Madras High Court that she was not interested in seeking police security and would instead prefer to engage the services of a private security agency, if required.
The submission was made before a Division Bench of Justices Vineet Kothari and M.S. Ramesh during the hearing of a case in which she and her brother J. Deepak were declared as legal heirs of their aunt who had died intestate on December 5, 2016.
Justices N. Kirubakaran and Abdul Quddhose had declared the siblings to be the legal heirs of all movable and immovable properties left behind by the former Chief Minister and directed the police to provide security to them since they were to inherit properties worth several crores of rupees.
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However, making it clear that the siblings would have to bear the cost of security, the judges said that any one of their aunt’s properties could be disposed of to pay the amount. They also directed the High Court Registry to continue to list the matter for reporting compliance of their orders.
On Thursday, Special Government Pleader T.M. Pappaiah informed the court that the police had sought ₹20.83 lakh for providing round the clock security to the siblings for six months. However, there was no response from them.
Advocate S. L. Sudarsanam, representing Mr. Deepak, said his client would respond to the police separately and urged the court to close the case.
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A similar request was made by Ms. Deepa’s counsel Sai Kumaran who said she would engage a private security service, if necessary. The judges closed the case after recording their submissions.