Jayalalithaa lived last 10 yrs of her life in house attached by I-T dept

CHENNAI: For about 10 years preceding her death, former chief minister Jayalalithaa was living in a house that had been attached by the I-T department for dues amounting to Rs 16.74 crore. The fact tumbled out in Madras high court on Thursday, when the I-T department said Veda Nilayam — Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden residence — was under attachment with the department from 2007.

Besides Veda Nilayam, three other properties — two in Chennai and one in Hyderabad — were also under attachment too, said A P Srinivas, senior standing counsel for the department. The submissions were made during the hearing of a PIL to restrain the state government from converting Veda Nilayam into a memorial, filed by social activist K R Ramaswamy.

Recently, the court had asked the I-T department for its objections, if any, in converting the house into a memorial. Srinivas sought two weeks to file another affidavit giving position of assessments, appeals (if any), stand of the department in the matter of recovery and whether they have any objection to the relief claimed in present petition. In response to the query, advocate-general Vijay Narayan submitted that such tax dues could be cleared with compensation by state.

Recording the submissions, the bench adjourned the plea to February 7 for further hearing.