Who Will Inherit Jayalalithaa’s Properties Worth More Than 100 Crores?  

Chennai: A question mark hangs over Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden property Veda Nilayam, a 24,000 sqft bungalow, a day after the demise of former CM J Jayalalithaa. The farmer CM has not left any will. Real estate experts in the city estimate the property at Rs 90 crore.

Will Sasikalaa Natarajan, the farmer CM’s aide, stay put in Veda Nilayam or will Amma's niece Deepa Jayakumar and her brother Dipak stake claim? Or will history repeat itself as in the case of Jaya's mentor M G Ramachandran, whose house in Chennai remained mired in legal disputes for years after his death?

Jayalalithaa and her mother Sandhya purchased the Poes Garden property in 1967 for Rs 1.32 lakh. According to legal experts, Jaya's nephew and niece could, if they want to, stake claim to a share of the Poes Garden property, originally acquired by their grandmother.

Apart from her Chennai house, Amma's fixed assets and investments were worth over Rs 80 crore. In her affidavit filed for this year's assembly election, she declared her assets at a conservative Rs 118.58 crore. She declared commercial property and 14.5 acres of agricultural land near Hyderabad. All her properties, together, but for the Poes Garden bungalow and some inherited jewellery, a special court has attached all of these properties in the disproportionate assets case.

Jayalalithaa had a big bank balance too. She had deposits of Rs 10.63 crore in various banks and 1,250 kg of silver worth Rs 3 crore. This does not include gold and silver ornaments the court seized. The issue is pending in Supreme Court, which on June 7 reserved its judgment in the case.