Chennai, Oct 15 : The Madras High Court on Wednesday (October 15, 2025) directed former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa's niece and legal heir, J. Deepa, to implead her brother, J. Deepak, as a respondent in her writ petition challenging the recovery of income tax and wealth tax dues amounting to Rs 13.69 crore.

Justice C. Saravanan granted time till November 3 for Ms Deepa to include her brother as a party, after the Income Tax Department's senior standing counsel, A.P. Srinivas, informed the court that both siblings had been declared Jayalalithaa's legal heirs, but Deepak had not contested the recovery proceedings.

According to the department, the Tax Recovery Officer had originally issued an order on July 23, 2025, seeking to recover Rs 36.56 crore in arrears assessed against Jayalalithaa for the financial years 1991-92 to 2011-12.

The dues were sought from her two legal heirs, who had inherited her properties following her death in 2016. Ms Deepa had first moved the High Court on August 7, 2025, arguing that any assessment or recovery proceeding in the name of a deceased individual was 'void ab initio' and unenforceable.

She also contended that she could not be treated as an assessee in default, as no computation sheet or supporting documents had been furnished to her, and several tax appeals were still pending.

However, while that petition was pending, the Tax Recovery Officer issued a revised order on August 4, 2025, lowering the recovery amount to Rs 13.69 crore. The court subsequently dismissed her first petition as infructuous on September 18, prompting her to file a fresh writ petition challenging the revised order.

During the hearing, her counsel submitted that Ms Deepa had no access to the former Chief Minister during her lifetime and was declared a legal heir only in May 2020. The Poes Garden residence was handed over to the heirs in December 2021, but no documents related to the tax liabilities were found during the inventory.

When the judge observed that Jayalalithaa's chartered accountant would likely have held the necessary records and login credentials, counsel informed the court that the accountant had passed away during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Granting time to implead Deepak, Justice Saravanan directed Srinivas to take notice on behalf of the Tax Recovery Officer.

/IANS