Bengaluru:
Nearly 27 kg of gold ornaments, including at least two golden crowns and a gold sword, were some of the items belonging to former chief minister and AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa that were handed over to Tamil Nadu government by a special court in Karnataka as part of a process that began on Friday. The items were seized in connection with a disproportionate case against the former Tamil Nadu chief minister, who died in 2016, and had been lying in the Karnataka state treasury for nearly 21 years.
Some of the other articles in the treasure trove are 481 items made of gold – including a golden ornament shaped like what appears to be the former chief minister’s profile – documents of over 1,520 acres of land and some cash. Visuals showed officials carrying out bags, suitcases and trunks full of the items.
The disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa, which lasted about 18 years, was transferred to Bengaluru from Chennai. She and three other accused, including her close associate VK Sasikala and Ms Sasikala’s relatives VN Sudhakaran and J Ilavarasi, were convicted by a special court in Bengaluru in 2014. They were acquitted by the Karnataka High Court in 2015 but the order was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2017.
On January 29, a special CBI court had ordered the transfer of all confiscated assets belonging to Jayalalithaa to the Tamil Nadu government and the Supreme Court, on Friday, dismissed a petition by Jayalilthaa’s niece and nephew, J Deepa and J Deepak, claiming ownership of the items. The Supreme Court said that the abatement of proceedings after Jayalalithaa’s death did not mean she was acquitted of the crime.
To Be Auctioned?
Kiran S Javali, the public prosecutor in the disproportionate assets case, said, “The trial court had ordered that all the assets of six companies, having an acreage of 1,526.16 acres, to be confiscated to the state of Tamil Nadu. It had also directed that 27 kg of gold ornaments should be confiscated to the state government. The court handed over all these items to the officers of the Home and Vigilance departments of the state of Tamil Nadu.”
“The government of Tamil Nadu can either send it to the Reserve Bank of India or take steps to auction it to recover the money,” he added.
An official said a luxury bus, which is parked in Chennai, was also seized as part of the proceedings.
