Jaya’s heir: Plea of Bengaluru woman dismissed

Justice S Vaidyanathan, who dismissed the petition, said that since the woman could not establish that she was the biological daughter, there was no question of the court allowing her to perform the last rites for Jayalalitha as per Vaishnavite rituals, as requested. The judge dismissed the petition of S Amrutha (38) of Bengaluru, her relatives, L S Lalitha and Ranjani Ravindranath.

Concurring with the submission of Advocate General Vijay Narayan that Amrutha was trying to defame late Jayalalithaa, the judge said that according to the Puranas, even deceased people have got the right to privacy and their souls should not be disturbed, “as they have immortal life after after their death”.

“In this case, though we are able to see a lot of twists and turns, creating moments of excitement and anxiousness that alone cannot be sufficient to arrive at a definite conclusion in the absence of any supporting documents thereof,” he said. The judge said that it was saddening to note that the death of Jayalalithaa was still a mystery, “Though her photos were then and there published by Apollo Hospitals, showing as if she was taking idly, doing physical exercise, cracking jokes, conducting meetings with the officials of the state government, thereby portraying the Hospitals and others, who have given an untrue story, as villains.”

The judge while referring to the present case, said Amrutha had not produced any photograph to establish that she had stayed with Jayalalithaa. Her averment that she made several phone calls to Jayalalithaa cannot be a good ground for the court to accept her contention, she said.