Deepa, Deepak asked to respond on Veda Nilayam’s acquisition

CHENNAI: The city civil court has issued notice to former chief minister’s niece Deepa Jayakumar and nephew Deepak to submit their responses on the State depositing Rs 67.9 crore to acquire Veda Nilayam. The amount also includes Rs 36.9 crore that requires to be paid to the Income Tax (I-T) department to free the property of any encumbrances.

VI Assistant Judge J Barathi issued the notice on a memo application moved by the I-T department. The court directed Deepa and Deepak to file detailed reports  by November 3. The State government on July 24, deposited Rs 67.9 crore at the city civil court for acquiring Veda Nilayam. 

An amount of Rs 36.9 crore would be paid to the I-T department, as Jayalalithaa had owed that amount. The balance Rs 31 crore would be shared between Deepa and Deepak. The duo was declared Jayalalithaa’s legal heirs under section 15(1)(d) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, by a division bench of the Madras High Court, led by Justice N Kirubakaran, in May this year.

There were conflicting claims over the compensation payment between Deepak and Deepa and there was no claim for apportionment of the compensation from the duo. Only the I-T department has claimed its Rs 31 crore due.