SC rejects woman's plea claiming to be Jayalalithaa's biological daughter

The Supreme Court today refused to entertain the plea of a woman who claimed to be the biological daughter of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

A bench of Justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta refused to allow her prayer for DNA test to know her parentage as she claimed to have been given in adoption to Jaya's sister and her husband. Senior Advocate Indira Jaising, who appeared for the woman, also sought cremation of Jayalalithaa as per Hindu rites on the grounds that she was an Iyengar Brahmin. She said there were two witnesses when the child was given for adoption and the petitioner had come to know about her real parentage only when her adopted father was on his death bed.

"There is a politically charged-up atmosphere in Tamil Nadu and this case should be transferred outside the state as infighting is going on in the ruling political party," she said. Jaising said in order to establish her real parentage, DNA test should be allowed to be conducted on the woman as she has the right to know about her biological parents.

"In this society, it is very difficult for an unwed mother to keep the child. Therefore (she) was given to Jaya's sister who resided in Bangalore and there were two eyewitnesses to the incident," the senior lawyer said. The court, however, said the petitioner is at liberty to approach the high court.