J. Deepa and J. Deepak, declared by the Madras High Court on Wednesday as Class II legal heirs of their aunt Jayalalithaa, are likely to be called for a hearing by the authorities in charge of the acquisition of Veda Nilayam, the former Chief Minister's Poes Garden residence in Chennai.
Pointing out that the notice period is not yet over for receipt of objections subsequent to the publication of Chennai Collector’s declaration for acquisition, a senior official said the siblings had submitted their objections to the government’s move. This is the second time that they have conveyed their disapproval of the land acquisition process.
“We will see whether anyone else is filing his or her objection. Once the notice period is over, all those who have given objections will be given an opportunity,” the official said, adding that the notice period gets over after 30 days of the publication of the declaration [which is June 2 in the given instance].
The hearing will be held by Revenue Divisional Officer for South Chennai, who is the Land Acquisition Officer for the Veda Nilayam case. Once the hearing is over, the Chennai Collector will make an award.
Already, the State government has earmarked a sum of ₹67 crore for the acquisition of the property. A week ago, an ordinance was promulgated to take over Veda Nilayam “temporarily.”
Asked who would clear the liabilities of the former Chief Minister towards wealth and income taxes to the tune of around ₹16.74 crore as on December 31, 2018 [which was the status informed by the Income Tax department to the High Court in April 2019], another official pointed out that the general principle is to deduct all the dues to the governments, Central or State, and other institutions including banks, before making the payment of compensation to the legal heirs.
Veda Nilayam is among four immovable properties that are under attachment for the recovery of arrears. It was attached by the Income Tax department in 2007.
