CHENNAI: Madras High Court Justice N Anand Venkatesh on Friday refused to hear the pleas moved by late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's niece Deepa Jayakumar challenging the acquisition of Veda Nilayam by the Tamil Nadu government. The justice directed the pleas to the High Court registry to pass it to the appropriate bench hearing Veda Nilayam cases.
The petitioner sought to quash an order dated July 22 of the Land Acquisition Officer in Guindy by which the government acquired her aunt's residence Veda Nilayam in Poes Garden for converting it into a memorial under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
The Advocate General Vijay Narayan contended that the plea has to be filed in the city civil court and not in the High Court. "There is no case since the compensation amount is already deposited in the city civil court," he added.
The counsel for the petitioner sought an interim stay in the entire acquisition proceedings.
However, Justice Anand Venkatesh who heard the plea recorded the submissions and refused to grant an interim stay.
The judge got irked by the petitioner's submissions asking, "Why the delay and where was the family when the Chief Minister was alive."
The judge observed that there is already a case pending regarding the Veda Nilayam property with a division bench of the Madras High Court.
Justice Anand Venkatesh passed it to the High Court Registry and refused to pass any interim orders.