HC quashes acquisition of Jaya's house

Questioning the ‘public cause’ claim of the erstwhile AIADMK government and unjustifiable procedural lapses in acquiring former chief minister Jayalalithaa’s house at Poes Garden to convert it into a memorial, the Madras high court quashed the decision. Justice N Seshasayee, deprecating the attempt to establish another memorial when £8 million had been already spent in building a memorial for Jayalalithaa on the Marina, asked: “Is it not one memorial too many? What is the inspirational story that ‘Veda Nilayam’ may provide which the Marina memorial does not?” The judge then directed the Chennai district collector to hand over the keys of Veda Nilayam to Jayalalithaa’s niece J Deepa and nephew J Deepak, who are her sole legal heirs.