BENGALURU: A small gold replica of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa along with a gold pen, gold sword and gold watches were among the 27 kg of valuable items that were handed over to the Tamil Nadu government on Saturday, after the completion of documentation and valuation. The items were seized in connection with the Disproportionate Assets (DA) case registered against Jayalalithaa.
On Friday morning, the valuation and documentation process began in the presence of City Civil and Sessions Court Judge H A Mohan, who handles cases related to the CBI and ED; J Anne Mary Swarna, joint secretary, home prohibition and excise department, Government of Tamil Nadu, a superintendent of police and other officials.
The valuation was completed on Saturday afternoon, after which 1,606 items, including gold jewellery, diamonds, emeralds, rubies and silver articles weighing around 27 kg, were officially handed over to representatives of the Tamil Nadu government.
Around 2.30 pm, under heavy police security, six trunks containing the valuables were transported to Tamil Nadu in a private logistics vehicle. Two Tamil Nadu police vans and two cars escorted the vehicle. A total of 25 police personnel from Tamil Nadu were assigned to escort the valuables, while Karnataka police provided security until the convoy crossed the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Special Public Prosecutor Kiran S Javali said the decision on the next steps whether to auction the items or deposit them with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rests with the Tamil Nadu government. Apart from these valuables, a luxury bus was also seized during the proceedings, and the court has directed that it be auctioned.
Additionally, properties registered under six different companies, covering an extent of 1,526 acres across the districts of Chennai, Thanjavur, Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur and Thoothukudi have been confiscated. These properties will either be auctioned or converted into government land, he said.
According to the court order copy accessed by TNIE, old currency notes amounting to Rs 2,20,384 were found in the treasury boxes and have been transferred to Tamil Nadu officials. Fixed Deposit receipts totalling Rs 10 crore were also handed over.
The court felt that instead of auctioning these properties, the TN government should decide to keep the confiscated lands either for public purposes to distribute sites to the homeless and poor or to sell them in public auction and use the proceeds for infrastructure development, primary education and healthcare in rural areas of Tamil Nadu.
The court also ordered the reimbursement of Rs 13 crore to the Karnataka government, which includes Rs 5 crore previously spent on expenses related to the case.