BENGALURU: Those in the special court were left dumbstruck after finding three luxury watches, which were not even opened from their boxes, while carrying out valuation and documentation of valuables seized from former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets (DA) case.
These watches were part of around 468 confiscated items, including gold and diamonds, documented on Friday before Judge HA Mohan, Special Court for CBI and ED Cases, to hand them over to the Tamil Nadu government.
The watches, which were said to have been gifted to Jayalalithaa, were opened for the first time in the court hall for valuation and documentation with videography that began at 11.30 am. Six trunks kept in the treasury were brought to the court hall under tight security. As the verification process began, the court doors were shut for the public. Representatives of legal heirs of Jayalalithaa requested the court to stop the process for sometime, stating that an appeal filed by them in SC against dismissal of their petition claiming the confiscated assets in the high court on January 13, 2025, will be heard on Friday.
However, the court continued the process after the authorities informed it that the appeal was dismissed by the SC.
Property documents and other assets of Jayalalithaa were seized in connection with the disproportionate assets case and all of them were marked as material objects during the trial in Karnataka.
Other seized items, including thousands of silk sarees and footwear, were earlier handed over to Bhaskar, Jayalalithaa’s personal assistant.
The valuation and documentation of items in the remaining three trunks will be done on Saturday. The process of handing over the assets to the Tamil Nadu government will be completed by evening.