Jayalalithaa’s seized assets transferred to Tamil Nadu govt

The seized assets included 27.558 kilograms of gold jewellery, 1,116 kilograms of silver, and documents related to 1,526 acres of land, officials said. These valuables were formally transferred to Tamil Nadu government representatives through an in-camera procedure in the presence of the court and treasury officials in Bengaluru.

Tamil Nadu home secretary Dheeraj Kumar told HT that a joint secretary from the state home department was present at Bengaluru’s 34th CCH court, which was functioning as the special CBI court, to receive the assets from the treasury officials.

On Friday, the Supreme Court bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma dismissed a plea by her legal heir seeking the return of attached properties, reinforcing that abatement (the technical term for not considering a legal question, in this case because of Jayalalithaa’s death in December 2016) does not equate exoneration.