Days after the Tamil Nadu government adopted the promulgation of acquiring former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's residence in Chennai to convert the palatial property into the memorial, the division bench of the Madras High Court has toppled the government's move to proceed towards the acquisition by announcing Jayalalithaa's nephew Deepak and niece Deepa as the legal heirs of the deceased leader. 

The division bench that comprises of Justices Kirubakaran and Abdul Quddhose has issued a fresh order of halting the government's efforts to acquire the property. In its order, the High court has pronounced that Deepa and Deepak are the class II legal heirs under the Hindu Succession Act 1956 and the Tamil Nadu government must issue a notice to the legal heirs to obtain their response before acquiring the property. 

The court has named them as class II heirs as Jayalalithaa doesn't have a direct or class I heirs. The high court has directed the government to acquire Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden residence after paying the compensation for the departed leader's class II heirs failing which the property can't be acquired. The court's order has come when the bench heard the plea filed by ADMK members Pughazhenthi and Janakiraman.

The duo has sought the directive from the court to grant Letters of Administration on the properties of Jayalalithaa as the deceased leader had no legal heir while she demised. After hearing, the division bench has rejected the petition and named Deepa and Deepak as the legal heirs for all the properties of the leader. On the government's move of converting the property into the memorial, the high court has made some recommendations.

According to the reports, the high court has suggested the government to consider making the Poes Garden residence as the official residence and office of the Chief Minister of the state instead of converting it into a memorial. By citing that the residence has essential infrastructure to be the office of the Chief Minister, the high court asked the government to use a portion of the property to install a memorial, if the government tends to set up a memorial, while the rest can function as the Chief Minister's official residence. 

The bench has said that the Tamil Nadu government must issue a notice to class II heirs for hearing objections from them to acquire the property following which it can consider making it as the official residence and workplace for the Chief Minister. The high court's order has paused the paced up proceedings of the state government on acquiring the residence. 

Last week - May 22, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit has signed the ordinance to let the state government take temporary procession of Veda Nilayam, the residence of Jayalalithaa in which she lived till her last breath. The ordinance would allow the government to take control of the movable items in the house that have been unused for more than three years. 

The governor has also allowed the government to constitute the 'Puratchi Thalaivi Dr. J Jayalalithaa Memorial Foundation'. According to the reports, the foundation will be initiating the essential steps to maintain the residence and the movable properties within its premises. The reports stated that the foundation will be chaired by Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and comprised of Deputy Chief Minister Pannerselvam, Information and Publicity Ministry Kadambur Raju, the Director of Information and Public relations, and government officials. 

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