The Karnataka High Court on Monday dismissed an appeal by the legal heirs of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa seeking the release of her property seized in a disproportionate assets case registered against her in 2004, reported Bar and Bench.

Justice V Srishananda noted that the July 2023 order by a trial court that denied them relief was based on merits and no interference from the High Court was needed.

While Jayalalithaa had not left a will, the Madras High Court had declared her niece J Deepa and nephew J Deepak her legal heirs in May 2020. It had said that as legal heirs, Deepa and Deepak were entitled to inherit all the properties left behind by the former chief minister.

The legal heirs had filed a petition before a special court seeking direction to release Jayalalithaa’s properties in their favour.

In July 2023, a special court in Bengaluru rejected the petition. “All the properties were acquired by illegal means and accordingly, ordered to be confiscated,” said the court. “Therefore, the properties shall go to the government and not in favour of the petitioners.”

On Monday, the High Court noted that the Supreme Court had previously ruled that confiscation orders must be followed by all parties, including the legal representatives of the deceased, reported Bar and Bench.

“As could be seen the attachment had ultimately ended in confiscation,” the High Court said. “There is a vast difference between attachment pending trial and the post-trial order of confiscation.”

Srishananda said that the High Court could not reinterpret the Supreme Court’s judgment to release the assets to her legal heirs.

Jayalalithaa was first booked in a disproportionate assets case under the Prevention of Corruption Act in 1996. It was alleged that as chief minister between 1991 and 1996, she acquired over Rs 63 crore in wealth disproportionate to her known sources of income.

In September 2014, a special court in Bengaluru convicted Jayalalithaa, her aide Sasikala, Ilavarasi (Sasikala’s sister-in-law) and Sudhakaran (Jayalalithaa’s foster son, whom she later disowned) and sentenced them to four years imprisonment with a hefty fine of Rs 100 crore.

In 2015, she was acquitted by the Karnataka High Court.