JDA checks Gayatri Devi property

Even as the erstwhile Jaipur royal family heads towards a legal battle over the distribution of properties left behind by the late Rajmata Gayatri Devi...

Even as the erstwhile Jaipur royal family heads towards a legal battle over the distribution of properties left behind by the late Rajmata Gayatri Devi,Jaipur Development Authority officials on Thursday visited her Lily Pool Palace to examine whether its boundaries had been tampered with. JDA said they had acquired part of the Lily Pool Palace property amongst other royal holdings in the city and wanted to verify reports that its boundary lines had been tampered with.

JDA Commissioner Sudhanshu Pant on Thursday said its officials visited Lily Pool Palace on Wednesday and Thursday to verify whether the area that the JDA had acquired from the royal family had been tampered with. There were reports that a fence had been torn down and the boundary changed,but no irregularities were found. The property is at present under litigation in the Rajasthan High Court,following a status quo order in 2004, Pant said. He added that the JDA property in question concerned only a part of the Lily Pool Palace.

In an order dated October 18,1993,the Supreme Court ruled that the JDA could acquire a portion of the royal property, Pant said.

The JDAs interest in the Lily Pool Palace comes at a time when the erstwhile Jaipur royal family is gearing up for a legal battle over royal properties worth over Rs 1,000 crore. Now the Lily Pool estates stand divided between what Gayatri Devi owned,what the JDA acquired and a portion that belongs to the Ram bagh Hotel.

Incidentally,the Jaipur royal family has been locked in property disputes since the death of the Late Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II in 1970. However,sources close to the royal family asserted that they would take their decision after the declaration of Gayatri Devis will,which is likely to be made public on August 9,at the end of the traditional mourning period.

Though speculation is rife that the Rajmatas will includes her grandchildren,Devraj Singh and Lalitya Devi,there are those who also believe Bhawani Singh could be part of the will,though he had fallen out of favour with Gayatri Devi a few years ago.