Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) on Monday, March 30, sealed a property belonging to late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in the city’s Srinagar Colony over non-payment of property tax dues running into over Rs 1.6 crore, officials said.
The stilt-plus-four-storey structure in Yousufguda’s Circle-38 limits was unsealed on Tuesday, March 31, after the legal heirs initiated the payment process, they added.
Tax on the property has been in default since 2017, with the total outstanding amount, including arrears and penal interest, standing at approximately Rs 1.6 crore. Under the One-Time Settlement (OTS) scheme, which carried a deadline of March 31, a 90 per cent waiver on interest brought the payable amount down to Rs 82.91 lakh.
GHMC officials said repeated notices were served to people associated with the property, including a fresh round in February, but drew no response, leaving authorities with no option but to proceed with sealing the premises.
Jayalalithaa’s nephew Deepak Jayakumar, a Chennai resident, had earlier approached GHMC seeking reclassification of the property from commercial to residential, contending it had been used for residential purposes since 2017. The building was previously assessed under the commercial category after being used as a private office, resulting in a higher tax liability.
The property had at one point been leased to businessman Vijay Mallya, and officials believe the tax arrears began accumulating during that period.
GHMC Commissioner RV Karnan said the civic body had launched a citywide drive against major property tax defaulters ahead of the March 31 deadline.
Jayalalithaa, the six-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, died in December 2016.
