The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday, March 5, stayed the special court order on handing over the jewellery of the late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to the Tamil Nadu government.
A bench, headed by Justice PM Nawaz, issued the order while hearing the petition by Jayalalithaa's legal heir and niece J Deepa. She contended that all the jewellery, valuables, and other seized materials should be handed over to her. The court issued notice to the state government to file objections in this regard and adjourned the matter to March 26.
Counsel for the petitioner submitted that Jayalalithaa was no more when the Supreme Court ruled that she was not an accused in the case of owning disproportionate assets. Judge HA Mohan of the special court had set the dates of March 6 and March 7 for the handover of gold, diamond, silver, and ruby jewellery among other valuables worth crores of rupees, belonging to Jayalalithaa. These items were seized by authorities in connection with the case.
Two officials from the Tamil Nadu government were assigned to receive the jewels, and the authorities were instructed to bring five trunks for this purpose. The Tamil Nadu government had submitted to the court that the Home Secretary and the Inspector General, Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), would be present during the handover procedure.
The court had previously ruled that Jayalalithaa's family was not entitled to the properties confiscated by the state.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted raids against Jayalalithaa in 1996, and a charge sheet was submitted in 1997. The trial was conducted in Karnataka as per the Supreme Court's directive, and all relevant evidence was held in the Karnataka treasury under the court's custody. On September 27, 2014, a special court in Bengaluru sentenced Jayalalithaa to four years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 100 crore. She passed away in 2016.
RTI activist T Narasimha Murthy had filed a plea seeking compensation for the amount spent by the Karnataka government in this case through the auction of seized items. The court rejected the plea and directed the transfer of seized items to the Tamil Nadu government.