I-T dept attaches Sasikala’s 65 benami properties worth Rs 300 cr

Attached properties include a new house under construction in Poes Garden, opposite to Veda Nilayam,

the residence of Jaya, which is being converted to a government memorial. All 65 properties were acquired by the Sasikala clan during the year 2003-05. Income Tax department’s Chennai wing has attached these properties under the provisions of Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016.

Attachment notices have been served to Sasikala, who was jailed at Parappana Agrahara prison, Bengaluru in connection with a disproportionate asset case, the benami company and various sub-registrar officers in whose jurisdiction the properties are situated, Income Tax sources said. 

Sources also noted that the benami firm Sri Hari Chandana Estates had purchased these properties located in Poes Garden, Alandur, Tambaram, Guduvanchery and Sriperumbudur. This shell company, which p u r c h a s e d these properties, had no business or income to purchase them. After investigation, the department has found that the firm is benami of Sasikala . The attached properties include a site just across Veda Nilayam, the plot for the proposed residence of Sasikala (no. 95/58, of 10 grounds, 24000 sq feet plot). It was owned by Binny Mills Ltd. It is also to be noted that during demonetisation,

Sasikala had entered into benami transactions for 9 properties to the tune of Rs 1,600 crores. In February 2017, Sasikala was taken to jail, along with her sister-in-law J Elavarasi and nephew VN Sudhagaran, to serve four-year imprisonment in the infamous Rs 66.65-crore DA case in which the former chief minister was also an accused.