Plea in court asks govt to take over Jaya properties

CHENNAI: A public interest litigation has been filed in the Madras high court seeking a direction to the Centre and the State government to nationalise the assets of the former Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, and appoint a retired high court judge to administer the properties. Non-governmental organisation Tamil Nadu Centre for Public Interest Litigation filed the petition on the ground that Jayalalithaa, who died on December 5, had no direct legal heirs and used to often say that she is "by the people and for the people." In an affidavit filed along with the petition, the petitioner organisation listed out her properties and said all of them should be taken over by the state and the income gained from them should be utilised for people's welfare. A division bench of Justices A Selvam and P Kalaiyarasan are expected to hear the case soon.