British citizen Peter Earl Edward Craig Jones, former owner of Kodanad estate. Chennai: Yet another controversy has erupted over the Kodanad estate of the late Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa, after a former owner alleged that he was forced to sell the bungalow for a low price.
British citizen Peter Earl Edward Craig Jones said his family was forced to sell the bungalow with a market price of over Rs.1,100 crore (Rs.11 billion) for as low as Rs. 7 crore.
In an interview to The Week, Peter, who runs a management consultancy firm in Bengaluru, said that Jaya's aide V.K. Sasikala and her coterie used rowdy methods to grab his father's property in 1992, when Jayalalithaa was the chief minister.
The allegation comes amid a raging row over the estate, the ownership of which has been disputed.
Kodanad Estate, perched on the Nilgiri Hills, was Jayalalithaa's summer palace. As per documents, her share in this property is just Rs. 3.13 crore. Rest of it is in the name of Sasikala, her sister-in-law, Ilavarasi; and other relatives. It is estimated that the current market price of the estate is Rs. 1,115 crore.
Peter says his father, William Jones, bought the estate in 1975. He developed the rocky area into a tea estate. As it started fetching good money, he registered it as a company called Kodanad Tea Estate Private Ltd. The owners were Peter, his father, mother, and four sisters.
In 1992, someone approached Peter saying Jayalalithaa was interested in buying the property. His family was willing to sell a part of the estate because bank loans were to be cleared. However, after two years, the 906-acre estate had to be sold off under pressure for just Rs. 7.6 crore.
Peter's version
Peter said there were no documents that would provide evidence of the sale. Sasikala's benamis were included on the director board. Peter met Jayalalithaa five times. However, it became evident that Sasikala was the one in charge. She exerted pressure through the current education minister K.A. Sengottaiyan, industrialist P. Rajarathinam, and liquor baron N.P.V. Ramasamy Udayar. As the family stood firm that the estate will not be sold in full, over 150 goons arrived in cars with covered-up number plates, and threatened and harassed them. The family lodged a police complaint as advised by William's friend governor M. Chenna Reddy, but the police advice was to 'escape' from the estate as quickly as possible.
The Rs. 7.6 crore was paid as a demand draft. The family had sought a Rs. 4 crore cash in addition, but it was never given. And they had to face quite a number of Income Tax raids too.
They approached the opposition DMK, but found that the party was interested only in political exploitation.
Peter expressed hope that the government and the judiciary would restore the estate to his family. Peter said he respects Jayalalithaa as a woman and as a leader. However, as chief minister, she drove Tamil Nadu back by several years with her fondness for sycophancy and corruption.
