TN government junks Amrutha's claim of being Jayalalithaa's biological child

Chennai: State government has junked the claim of a Bengaluru-based woman claiming to be biological daughter of former Chief Minister late J. Jayalalithaa as a figment of imagination.

When a petition filed by S. Amrutha, 37, came up for hearing before Madras High Court Justice S. Vaidyanathan on Tuesday, Advocate General Vijay Narayan said that the petitioner is making false allegations and causing disrepute to the former CM.

Amrutha, in the petition, claiming to be the biological daughter of Jaya, wanted to exhume the body of Jaya from Marina beach and cremate it in accordance with the customs of Iyengar community to which she belonged.

Appearing on behalf the petitioner, Senior Counsel V. Prakash, submitted that DNA test must be conducted to prove the claim of the petitioner.

He said Amrutha was born to Jayalalithaa on August 14, 1980 and she was raised by Sailaja, youngest sister of Jaya and Amrutha’s foster father Sarathi in Bengaluru.

Ironically, the Jaya’ family had disowned Sailaja since she was born after the death of Jayalalitha’s father, Jayaram.

Amrutha’s foster father informed her that she was daughter of Jaya only on the day of his death. Till then she was kept in dark. Only then she approached the authorities and moved the court.

Rejecting the submission, Narayan said the claim of the petitioner is nothing but a pigment of imagination. Amrutha had not submitted any documents to prove that she was daughter of the former CM. She has been making false allegations against the leader, which also amounts to defamation and even deceased also have right to privacy.

Jayalalithaa, when she was CM, filed a defamation petition in 2014 against Sailaja and a Tamil bi-weekly for publishing news item claiming that Sailaja was sister of Jaya. The CM denied the knowledge of Sailaja.

Amrutha claimed in the petition that Jayalalithaa had visited her residence in Bengaluru when she was CM and she also claimed that Amrutha visited her Jaya’s at Poes Garden residence. However, she had neither produced documents nor photographs regarding the alleged meeting. Amrutha had also not submitted any documentary evidence. The petition has been filed with an ulterior motive, he said.

Justice Vaidyanathan said everything surrounding the life and death of Jayalalithaa remained a question mark. Similarly, Sailaja and Amrutha also remained a question mark. Later the Judge adjourned the matter to next week for further hearing.