Chennai: After a brief lull, the magnificent Poes Garden mansion owned by late chief minister J Jayalalithaa is back at centre stage, but for the wrong reasons. If Sunday’s incidents, both inside and outside the sprawling bungalow, is anything to go by, a legal battle for possession of the property between Deepa and Deepak – the only surviving blood relatives of Jayalalithaa – is imminent. Jayalalithaa’s actress-mother Sandhya bought a part of the property in the 1960s and which Jaya expanded later.
Ever since J. Jayalalithaa’s death on December 5, 2016 the spotlight has been on who will inherit the properties left by the leader, particularly the palatial residence in upscale Poes Garden. For lakhs of AIADMK cadres and the general public, it is not just another property, but a symbol of power and a “living monument” since Jayalalithaa spent most part of her life – more than four decades – in the house.
Sunday’s public spat between Deepa and Deepak seems only the beginning of a long legal battle that might ensue. With Deepa completely opposing the Sasikala family and Deepak is openly siding with them, legal experts feel there is a strong possibility of a battle for the properties.
TV crew attacked
An English news channel reporter and a cameraman were allegedly attacked by private security guards deployed at the Poes Garden residence of late CM Jayalalithaa when the crew was shooting the heated exchange of words between Deepa and her brother Deepak on Sunday.
The attackers snatched away their camera and mobile phone after allegedly beating them up. Mobile phones belonging to three other employees of two TV channels were also reported missing in the melee.
Sanjeevi Sadagoban, reporter of Republic TV, said: “I received a call from Deepa at around 9 am saying that she was going to Poes Garden to claim the property. We were waiting outside the Poes bugalow’s gate. 10 minutes after she went in, we were called in. We were shooting the incidents when the guard started objecting to it. As more guards started pushing us out, we decided to come out. The cameraman was pushed down just outside the gate and beaten up. They snatched the mike from me and hit me on my head with it. Later they also snatched our mobiles and camera bags. Police including the assistant commissioner and inspector are aware of the incident,” he alleged. Police, however, said that they are yet to receive a complaint.
And since December 5 last year, there have been demands to convert the Poes Garden residence into a memorial for the late leader, a proposal that found favour with former chief minister O. Panneerselvam, who was booted out by the “Mannargudi Family” in early February.
The nameplate that screams “19, Veda Nilayam” was a symbol of power in Tamil Nadu since 1987 when Jayalalithaa was thrust into active politics after her mentor and AIADMK founder M.G. Ramachandran’s death. After Jayalalithaa’s death, her long-time aide Sasikala occupied the bungalow till she was sent to jail by the Supreme Court four months back. Though Sasikala’s nephew T.T.V. Dhinakaran held a few meetings at the residence in March and April, he is nowhere to be seen around the complex after his brief stint in Tihar Jail in New Delhi.
In the absence of a will and with circumstantial evidence pointing to the late leader not having left a will, things were quite clear from day one that the properties, especially the Poes Garden residence, would be inherited by Deepa and Deepak. The main block of Veda Nilayam will only go to the siblings since Sandhya their grandmother, bought it in 1965 and it is classified as ancestral property.
“There is no will left by late madam, as far as we know. If she had left a will, the big family (Sasikala) would have flaunted it by now. It was proposed to late madam, as early as in 1991 immediately after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi that she leaves a will behind. And, madam proposed appointing an executor, but the proposal was shelved as there were problems due to the will left by her late mentor MGR,” a source, who was close to the late CM and part of her legal team for long, told DC.
With a will not being found, Deepa and Deepak become inheritors of the ancestral property – the main block of Poes Garden and other blocks as well, which were acquired by the late CM during her first tenure as administrative head of the state from 1991-1996. The new blocks are part of the disproportionate assets case that sent Sasikala to prison.
“Even for the other properties left behind by Jaya, Deepak and Deepa are the inheritors since they are the legal heirs. Since they are the only surviving blood relatives, they become her legal heirs,” a senior advocate said on condition of anonymity.
