The Madras High Court on Monday agreed to hear on January 27, instead of February 4, the writ petitions filed by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s nephew J. Deepak and niece J. Deepa challenging the acquisition of her Poes Garden residence, Veda Nilayam, for conversion into a government memorial.
Justice N. Seshasayee acceded to a request made by Mr. Deepak’s counsel S.L. Sudarsanam since there was reportedly a plan to inaugurate the memorial on January 28, a day after inaugurating Jayalalithaa’s mausoleum at the Marina beach. The judge made it clear that he would hear the case only on the plea for interim orders. Advocate-General Vijay Narayan and Special Government Pleader E. Manoharan told the court that the government was fully entitled to convert the residence into a memorial since it had been acquired in accordance with law after depositing the compensation amount of ₹67.9 crore before the City Civil Court.
He said the Tamil Nadu Puratchi Thalaivi Dr….