Former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa and her brother Deepak on Wednesday separately welcomed the Madras High Court verdict declaring them as Jayalalithaa’s legal heirs and inheritor of her properties.

“This is our ancestral property (Veda Nilayam in Poes Garden). It legitimately belongs to us. I am happy with the court verdict,” Ms. Deepa told journalists.

“This has put to rest all the claims made all along that Jayalalithaa did not have heirs,” she said. Describing this as the “first stage”, she said that once the full copy of the judgment was available, then the process of inheriting the properties could begin.

On his part, Deepak said that as informed in the court, he and his sister would establish a trust in Jayalalithaa’s name to use certain properties for welfare activities.

The siblings were not in favour of establishing a memorial for Jayalalithaa at Veda Nilayam. “I have been saying this from the beginning. Even the court has pointed out that public money should not be used to acquire houses of leaders to establish memorials,” said Ms. Deepa.