TN Govt repeals act to convert Jayalalithaa's residence into a memorial

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Thursday adopted a bill to repeal an Act, passed in 2020, to convert the Poes Garden residence of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa into a memorial.

The Tamil Nadu Puratchi Thalaivi Dr J Jayalalithaa Memorial Foundation Act, 2020, was enacted to establish a foundation to convert the ‘Veda Nilayam,’ the residence of the former AIADMK supremo into a memorial.

On November 24, 2021, the Madras High Court quashed the proceedings and directed that the keys to the late Chief Minister’s sprawling house, here, be handed over to her legal heir. Accordingly, the keys were handed over to her niece J Deepa on December 11, 2021, who was the petitioner in the case.

“The keys of the said building have been handed over to the writ petitioners as ordered by the High Court. Thus, the purpose for which the aforesaid Act was enacted no longer exists and the Act therefore became obsolete. Hence, the government has decided to repeal the said Act,” state Tamil Development and Information & Publicity Minister M P Saminathan said while moving the bill to repeal the Act.

It was passed by voice vote in the Assembly.