Months after a woman from Bengaluru claimed to be the daughter of Jayalalithaa, the late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s nephew has filed a counter petition in the Madras High Court, accusing the woman of lying. Deepak Jayaraman has accused Amrutha Sarathy of fabricating claims in order to get Jayalalithaa’s properties.
In December last year, the Madras High Court decided to entertain a petition submitted by Amrutha Sarathy, who had approached the court asking for a DNA test to be conducted to validate her claim. She has also asked that Jayalalithaa’s body be exhumed and cremated as per Brahmin rituals.
On Thursday, Deepak Jayakumar, Jayalalithaa’s nephew filed a petition in response to this. Denying all allegations made by Amrutha Sarathy, Deepak said, “..late Mrs Sandhya alias Vedha Jayaraman had one son namely Mr Jayakumar and one daughter Ms Jayalalithaa.”
Rubbishing claims that Sandhya had another daughter called Shylaja as claimed by Amrutha in her petition, Deepak further said that Amrutha was trying to ‘fabricate her untenable claims in the affidavit.’
In her petition, Amrutha claimed she was brought up as the daughter of Jayalalithaa’s late sister Shylaja and that it was only after the former CM’s demise that she came to know through her aunts – LS Lalitha and Ranjani Ravindranath – that she is Jayalalithaa’s biological daughter. Lalitha and Ranjani are related to Jayalalithaa, Amrutha further claimed.
“After the demise of Late Ms. J. Jayalalitha, Smt. L.S. Lalitha …telephoned Amrutha and informed her that Late Ms. J. Jayalalitha was not issueless and that Amrutha is the only daughter of her. Thereafter, many relatives of the Amrutha contacted her and informed and confirmed her that she is the only daughter of Late Ms. J. Jayalalitha however, she was brought up by Late Mrs. Shylaja and Late Mr. Sarathy on the request of Late Ms. J. Jayalalitha as their adoptive daughter,” Amrutha said in her petition.
Shylaja had in an interview to Junior Vikatan in 2014 claimed to be Jayalalithaa’s sister. Shylaja had then claimed to be the third child of Sandhya and Jayaram, with Jayalalithaa being the eldest and Jayakumar the middle child.
Deepak in his petition said that Amrutha was taking a “circuitous route to establish false identity.”
“The design of the said story story seems to be a plot hatched by these people to grab the properties of late Miss J Jayalalithaa..,” said Deepak.
The Madras High Court Justice S Vaidhyanathan who is hearing in the petition had, in December last year, asked why a DNA test can’t be done, and requested the Tamil Nadu government to respond to the same.
The counsel representing the government asked for some more time to file the government’s response in the matter. The case will be taken up on February 20.