Bengaluru, Jan 29 (PTI): In a major ruling, a special CBI court here on Wednesday ordered the transfer of all confiscated assets belonging to former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to the Tamil Nadu government.

This decision comes after the Karnataka High Court, on January 13, dismissed a plea by Jayalalithaa’s niece and nephew, J Deepa and J Deepak, who had staked claim to the properties as her legal heirs.

Jayalalithaa was convicted in a disproportionate assets (DA) case, where she was found guilty of amassing wealth beyond her known sources of income.

The Supreme Court had upheld the confiscation of her properties, despite abating proceedings against her following her demise in 2016.

Her heirs argued that since the case against Jayalalithaa was abated, her assets should not be confiscated.

However, the High Court ruled that the Apex Court had upheld the special court’s conviction of the other accused, and thus, the asset confiscation remained valid.

The properties that will now belong to the Tamil Nadu government include Veda Nilayam, Jayalalithaa’s iconic residence in Poes Garden in Chennai; several land parcels and estates linked to the DA case; bank deposits and other financial assets held in her name; gold jewellery, and valuables she had amassed during the check period, from July 1, 1991 to April 30, 1996.

The Karnataka High Court allowed Deepa and Deepak to submit proof if any assets were purchased before the check period. If they can establish such claims, they will be entitled to their value, even if the properties have already been auctioned.

With this latest ruling, the legal battle over Jayalalithaa’s wealth nears closure, ensuring that her assets are transferred to the Tamil Nadu government, as per the Supreme Court’s original verdict.

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New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Railways to examine the fixing of maximum passengers and sale of platform tickets -- issues raised in a PIL over the recent stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station.

A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela asked the authorities concerned to state in its affidavit, the details of its measures on the issues.

"Let the issues raised in the petition be examined, as suggested by the solicitor general, at the highest level at the Railway Board and thereafter an affidavit be filed by the respondent giving details of the decisions which might be taken by the Railway Board," the court ordered.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta said the matter was not taken in an adversarial manner and the Railways was bound to follow the law.

He said there was an "unprecedented" situation and assured the court that the issues raised in the PIL would be considered at the highest level.

The court said the PIL was not confined to the recent incident of stampede as it sought implementation of the existing legal provisions with respect to maximum number of passengers in a compartment and sale of platform tickets.

If the legal provisions were perhaps implemented adequately, such incidents of stampede could be avoided, it added.

The matter would come up on March 26.

A PIL was also filed in the Supreme Court on February 17, two days after the tragic incident that claimed 18 lives and left 15 injured, and sought immediate action to prevent such disasters in the future.

The PIL, filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari, sought a direction to the Centre and other authorities for implementation and consideration of a 2014 report of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on "Managing Crowd at Events and Venues of Mass Gathering".