Madras High Court. (File/Photo)
The Madras High Court on Monday sought the Tamil Nadu government’s stand on a plea for exhumation of the mortal remains of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa from the Marina beach and for burying it away from the coastal area. Admitting the plea, which also opposed setting up of her memorial at the Marina beach, a bench of justices M Sathyanarayanan and N Seshasayee issued notices to the government seeking its stand by August 18. Issuing notices on the plea by advocate S Doraiswamy, the bench said, “In the light of grounds raised by the petitioner in the affidavit, the writ petition is admitted.”
The petitioner said memorials had been constructed for leaders like Kamarajar and CN Annadurai but Jayalalithaa can’t be included in that list as she had been “convicted” for indulging in corrupt practices.
“Convicts have no right to get to be celebrated and honoured by the state,” Doraiswamy contended referring to the disproportionate assets case against her in which the Supreme Court abated the case following her demise.
He alleged that the memorial for late Chief Minister M G Ramachandran on the Marina, was also built without any permission.
The petitioner claimed that Jayalalithaa’s body was buried in utter violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules.
Chief Minister K Palaniswami had on June 28 announced establishing a grand memorial for Jayalalithaa at the Marina.
Hence, he prayed for a court direction to remove the body of Jayalalithaa from Marina beach and not to allow construction of any memorial there.
