CHENNAI: Four immovable properties of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, including Veda Nilayam in Poes Garden where she lived, are under the attachment of the Income Tax Department since 2007, the High Court was informed on Thursday through a counter-affidavit filed before the second bench of Justices Vineet Kothari and Anita Sumanth.  

Much to the chagrin of the audience in the court hall, including party advocates, the counter-affidavit filed by the Income Tax Department added that all the four properties were attached as early as in March 2007. The three other properties are on Anna Salai; St Mary’s Road in Mandaveli; and Hyderabad. 

The counter – filed by the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Centra Circle  2(2) – was in response to a PIL filed by activist ‘Traffic’ KR Ramaswamy, challenging the proposal of the State government to convert the Poes Garden residence into a memorial for the late Chief Minister. 

DMK vows action on Jayalalithaa's "mysterious" death if voted to power

The demand of income arrears for the period between 2005-06 and 2011-12 (including interest amount till December 31, 2018) is 6.63 crore. The arrears sum under the Wealth Tax Act for the period 1990-91 to 2011-12 (including interest till December 2018) is 10.12 crore, the counter explained. Of this, the department so far has recovered only 5.65 crore.

In the returns filed for the year 2016-17, the assessee had declared a total income of 1.28 crore and paid advance tax of 31.3 lakh. The tax deducted from source is 15.08 lakh. For the year 2017-18, no returns were filed by the legal heir(s) of the assessee, the counter said, while clarifying that the department is only concerned with the assessment and recovery of tax and has no views on the prayer sought by the petitioner. 

When the matter came up on Thursday, senior standing counsel for Income Tax AP Srinivas prayed for two weeks time to file another affidavit giving the position of assessments, appeals (if any), recovery of outstanding arrears and the steps taken for recovery. The fresh affidavit would also clarify the stand of the department in the matter of recovery of such arrears and whether for those reasons, they have any objection to the relief claimed in the present writ petition on a memorial for Jayalalithaa. 

hospital

Advocate-General Vijay Narayan submitted that it would be proper to implead the estate of the former Chief Minister in the present writ petition. As regards the demands of the department, he told the judges that the State may be permitted to file a memo to place on record as to who should be impleaded on behalf of the estate.