SC refuses to intervene in plea seeking cancellation of plan to construct Jayalalithaa's memorial

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to intervene in a plea seeking cancellation of the plan to construct a memorial of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa at Marina beach in Chennai.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that the petition was devoid of merits.

The bench also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, was hearing the plea filed by advocate M L Ravi who said that the late All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader was a "criminal" and therefore, her memorial should not be constructed.

The petitioner had knocked the doors of the apex court after a division bench of the Madras High Court comprising Justices M Sathyanarayanan and P Rajamanickam turned down his plea.

Popularly known as 'Amma', Jayalalithaa was taken to Chennai's Apollo hospital on September 22, 2016, where she was treated for 75 days before she breathed her last on December 5.

Following her death, allegations of foul play began to do the rounds and state Forest Minister Dindigul Sreenivasan even claimed that all Cabinet ministers had misled the people over the demise of the AIADMK supremo.