The State government on Thursday expressed surprise over an out-of-the-blue claim by the Income Tax (I-T) department that four of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s immovable properties — her Poes Garden residence Veda Nilayam, a commercial space at Parsn Manere on Anna Salai, another property on St. Mary’s Road here and a residence in Hyderabad’s Sri Nagar Colony — were under attachment since 2007.
Appearing before a Division Bench of Justices Vineet Kothari and Anita Sumanth, Advocate General (AG) Vijay Narayan said that the government was not aware of any such attachment and that it was indeed news to him.
The submission was made after A.P. Srinivas, senior standing counsel for the I-T department, submitted details of Jayalalithaa’s tax dues as well as a list of properties that were under attachment.
The details were furnished in response to PIL petitions filed by activist ‘Traffic’ K.R. Ramaswamy and another individual against the use of taxpayers’ money to acquire Veda Nilayam and convert it into a memorial.