On Wednesday, as he reached Chennai to appear before the Jayalalithaa death probe commission, Peter Karl Edward Craig Jones had hopes that any deposition before the judge might help him take forward his fight to get back his estate. But as he walked into the court hall at Chepauk in Chennai, all his hopes dashed, as the questions raised were about Jayalalithaa's medical conditions.
Jones, the former Kodanad estate owner who was forced to sell his tea estate in the Nilgiris, has, however, not lost all hopes to get back his estate. "Now the scenario is uncertain as it is between the courts and the government," he says.
THE WEEK was the first to track the former owner of the Kodanad estate. In a detailed interview to THE WEEK, Jones had opened up about how he was forced and intimidated to sell off his estate. In 2017, THE WEEK, tracked the properties Jayalalithaa had left behind and the claimants to it. According to the Supreme Court order, the Kodanad estate which was one of the properties mentioned in the Disproportionate Assets case against Jayalalithaa was supposed to be attached by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) in Tamil Nadu. The DVAC, under the state police department, was the investigating agency which probed into Jayalalithaa’s disproportionate wealth. Sources say the Kodanad estate, in the recent times, had a bumper crop.
In a brief chat with THE WEEK in Chennai, Jones threw more light on the death probe, the reason for him being summoned and also his hopes of getting back the Kodanad estate.
What brought you before the enquiry commission on Wednesday?
I was approached by the commission 10 or 15 days ago to an enquiry to find out whether I would be prepared to appear before it. I agreed saying if there are questions I could answer; I am prepared. They sent me the summons two or three days ago for the hearing. But nothing much transpired in it today. There was an argument between the lawyers and the judge. I was not able to lend any additional information on Jayalalithaa’s medical condition. Asking questions to me may not be proper as I had sold the estate not to Sasikala (Jayalalithaa's aide) but to Udayar and that the business was transacted between us and Udayar. And we never signed any documents directly with Sasikala.
In your earlier interview to us, you said that Sasikala intimidated you to sell the estate?
I will make it abundantly clear that even though Udayar had come into the picture I was aware that he was acting as a benami for Sasikala and there was never any period where there was any doubt about who the buyer of the estate was.
When you were summoned, didn’t you tell the commission that it was irrelevant for you to appear?
Yes. I did say. I am not entirely aware of the intention of the commission. But as far as enquiry about the circumstances surrounding her hospitalisation and eventually her death, I have nothing to contribute in that area at all. I was completely unaware of the circumstances.
Didn’t you tell this to the commission when you were summoned?
Yes. I did tell them. But nobody understood it. But the impression I was given, when I was summoned by the commission, is that the enquiry was going into more depth and covering more areas that were not specifically or directly linked to her hospitalisation.
It has been two years since her death. Do you still have hopes of getting back your estate?
I am very keen to pursue that situation because I think we lost our estate unfairly and I think we have to fight and get it back. But currently, the scenario is uncertain with the courts involved, with the governments involved, there is inheritance of Jayalalithaa’s will and who the fight needs to be taken to, is a question mark. What I am proposing while those matters are resolved is that the estate where I spent many years should not be allowed to decline and should continue to thrive, offer employment and remain a viable asset. I would be very keen to step in and take a look to ensure that this happens. In due course, the dispute over Kodanad between the courts and the government will be resolved. This might take many years and I certainly want to play a role. My current desire is that the estate remains viable.
