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I-T department begins process to attach Rs 300 crore properties held by Sasikala

Last Updated 31 August 2020, 16:51 IST

The Benami Prohibition Unit of the Income Tax Department has begun the process of attaching properties worth Rs 300 crores belonging to jailed AIADMK leader V K Sasikala.

A notice in this regard has been served to Sasikala at the Parapana Agrahara prison where she is currently serving her four-year jail term in a disproportionate assets (DA) case.

The properties that will be sealed include a land just opposite to her friend late J Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden residence. Sasikala’s family has begun constructing a bungalow on the land, leading to speculation whether it is being built for her to stay once she comes out of the prison.

Sources said the Benami Prohibition Unit has initiated the process of attaching 65 properties owned by Sasikala through her benamis. The combined worth of the aforesaid properties is Rs 300 crore.

They said the properties that are to be attached were purchased in the year 2003-2005 in the name of Harichandani estates and they are located in and around Chennai.

The action by the I-T department comes amid speculation that Sasikala might walk free from the jail by the end of this year. The jail term of the long-time aide of Jayalalithaa will end in February 2021 but she will be eligible for an early release, according to some, as she has not used regular leaves.

Last year, the I-T sleuths had attached assets worth Rs 1,500 crore allegedly purchased by Sasikala after demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes was announced by the Centre in November 2016.

The properties, including a mall in Chennai and a resort in neighbouring Puducherry, were attached under the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act as it was suspected that Sasikala bought these and controlled through others.

Sasikala is serving four-year imprisonment in the disproportionate assets (DA) case in which Jayalalithaa is also an accused. But she was not convicted as she had died when the final verdict was delivered by the Supreme Court in 2017.

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(Published 31 August 2020, 16:51 IST)

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