Jewellery worth Rs 24 crore of former CM Jayalalithaa handed over to Tamil Nadu govt

Among the gold ornaments were a gold-coated sword, a crown, a plate, a waist belt, and a figurine resembling Jayalalithaa, along with gold watches, pens, bangles, and earrings. Some pieces were even studded with diamonds. These items, along with silver articles and land documents, were seized from Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden residence in Chennai and brought to Bengaluru in 2004. This followed the establishment of a special court in Bengaluru to hear the disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa and her associates – Sasikala Natarajan, V N Sudhakaran, and J Ilavarasi.

In 2014, Special Judge John Michael D’Cunha convicted all four, sentencing them to four years in prison. Jayalalithaa was fined Rs 100 crore, while the others received fines of Rs 10 crore each.

Special Public Prosecutor Kiran S Javali on Saturday stated that the Tamil Nadu government could either deposit the gold with the Reserve Bank of India or auction it after evaluation. The amount spent on the trial will be recovered from Sasikala’s fine, with the remaining amount transferred to the state government.