COMMON ORDER

Introductory Statement:

1.1 ‘Veda Nilayam‘ was acquired. It was the residence of Selvi J. Jayalalithaa, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. She owned it. Ms. Jayalalithaa died on 05-12-2016. Subsequently, her house was acquired by the Government un- der the provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition,Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act., 2013 (RFCTLARR Act) with a view to convert it into a memorial for her.

1.2 Ms. Jayalithaa was a spinster and she died intestate. The petitioners herein, Shri. Deepak and Smt.Deepa (henceforth Deepak and Deepa), respectively are her nephew and niece (children of Ms. Jayalalithaa’s pre-deceased brother Jayakumar), and are the successors-in-title to Ms. Jayalalithaa’s estate. They challenge the acquisition of ‘Veda Nilayam’ in these writ petitions.

2. To facilitate a focused analysis, this Order is divided into Section-A and Sec- tion-B. In Section A, this Court proposes to deal with Facts & Pleadings. In Section B, the arguments of the counsel on either side and the discussion and decision of the Court are dealt with.

SECTION-A FACTS & PLEADINGS FACTS:

3. There are two sets of facts: (a) Facts relatin