After safeguarding valuables belonging to Amma — former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa -– for two decades since their seizure in a corruption case, the Karnataka government handed over the huge cache of gold, silver, jewellery, and land documents of properties worth crores and crores of rupees to the representatives of the Tamil Nadu government on Friday.

Kept under lock and key in the treasury of the Karnataka government, housed in the Vidhan Soudha, Jayalalithaa’s properties were decreed to belong to the Tamil Nadu government by the Karnataka High Court in a judgment made last month. The TN government was fighting a possession battle for the valuables, belonging to Jayalalithaa, against her legal heirs – J Deepa and J Deepak.

Advertisement

The Tamil Nadu government officials, who took possession of the valuables, were accompanied by a police team, which will be transporting the same to Chennai from Bangalore under heavy security. The path for possession of the confiscated valuables of Jayalalithaa was cleared by the Karnataka High Court, which in an order early last month dismissed the claims of ownership of the assets as Jayalalithaa’s legal heirs – J Deepa and J Deepak.

A huge cash haul, along with huge quantities of valuables at that time worth Rs 20-22 crore – was seized from Jayalalithaa after raids in connection with a disproportionate assets case, some over 20 years ago. The valuables were kept in the safe custody of the Karnataka treasury as per court orders all this while after the DA case was transferred out of Tamil Nadu to Karnataka.

The laundry list of valuables is as follows: Gold – 27.55 kgs, Silver – 1,116 kgs, Land documents relating to 1,526 acres, Sarees – 11,000 silk ones, diamond and precious stone jewellery and other items.

Jayalalithaa’s legal heirs – J Deepa and J Deepak — her niece and nephew – claimed that these properties belonged to them and challenged a lower court order that ruled that these belonged to the state of Tamil Nadu. Because of this, the handover of the Amma treasures was held up for over two years, till the Karnataka High Court rejected the claims of her nephew and niece, in January this year.

Wasting no time, the TN government moved its men and materials to ferry back “their treasure” to Chennai and the treasury of the state.

Incidentally, in July 2023, a lower court had rejected claims of the nephew and niece of Jayalalithaa of ownership of these valuables. Following which, the duo challenged this order, which decreed that the valuables were the property of the TN government. It was on January 13, 2025, that the Karnataka High Court came out with its final order rejecting the ownership claims of Jayalalithaa’s relatives, paving the way for the transfer of treasure.

A team of some 40 TN police officials took possession of the belongings loaded into “the gold truck” and escorted it back to Chennai.

The convoy of Amma’s treasure travelled to Chennai in a style similar to the one that used to be adopted by her — a convoy. But a tad smaller one, with just six vehicles.