Chennai Collector Seethalakshmi submitted to the court that converting the former residence of Jayalalithaa into a memorial “can serve as a symbol of motivation.”
A Madras High Court bench of Justice Seshasayee has advised the Tamil Nadu government to not take any adverse steps to convert Jayalalithaa’s residence Veda Nilayam, located at Poes Garden in Chennai, into a memorial until Madras High Court gives a ruling in the pleas filed against the acquisition of the residence. The court was hearing a plea filed by the legal heirs of the former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa — nephew J Deepak and niece — J Deepa opposing the acquisition by Tamil Nadu government.
While the cases came up for hearing on Monday, the counsel appearing for Deepak, SL Sudarsanam quoted a newspaper report, stating that the government mulls to inaugurate a memorial for the former Chief Minister at Veda Nilayam immediately after Pongal.
On hearing this, the judge asked the state government not to do “anything adventurous” until the final cases are heard on January 27, till the arguments are completed on both sides.
To this, the special government pleader E Manoharan requested the court to not pronounce an interim order and provide time for Advocate General Vijay Narayan to appear before the court. Accepting the request, the justice adjourned the cases for the further hearing on January 11.
To the batch of cases, Chennai Collector Seethalakshmi filed a counter-affidavit on Monday, stating that the Tamil Nadu government decided to convert Veda Nilayam into a memorial for public interest but Deepak has objected to the move, citing his personal interests. In the counter affidavit, she also said that a memorial for the late leader cannot be constructed in an alternate place since Veda Nilayam was close to her.
The counter said the late former Chief Minister would have welcomed the steps of the government to convert into a memorial since it can serve as a symbol of motivation. The Collector also said that the memorial will promote tourism.
The Tamil Nadu government had last year paid an amount of Rs 67.9 crore to become the official owner of Veda Nilayam. The state government paid the amount to facilitate the conversion of the former late Chief Minister’s residence into a memorial. However, opposing to both the moves of Tamil Nadu government, the niece and nephew of the former Chief Minister had moved the Madras High Court.
Read: TN govt is the owner of Jayalalithaa’s Veda Nilayam after paying Rs 67.9 crore
Source: The News Minute