Chennai: The Income Tax officers arrived at the office of Jaya TV in Chennai on Tuesday and are pursuing searches related to allegations of tax evasion.
A senior official said, “Searching and following the reports of theft.” Almost a dozen officers entered the office at 6 in the morning.
Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, started Jaya TV, currently controlled by his close aide VK Sasikala ‘s family, who is Deputy Chairman of AIADMK, who is in jail for corruption since February. The owner of the private company is Mavis Sitcom Ltd., which was promoted by the family of Shashikala.
The Sasikala’s nephew Vivek Jayaraman chaired the company, which was the mouthpiece of the ruling AIADMK.
The Jaya TV has been criticizing the state government in recent months, Sasikala and Chief Minister E. Palaniswamy, After a rift between them, who dumped her in favour of patching up with the rebel faction led by O Panneerselvam.
The united AIADMK recently adopted a proposal to take steps to retrieve Jaya TV and Namadhu MGR, the party’s newspaper, which is also owned by Sasikala, Jaya TV Management said this decision was an attack on independent media.
The Jaya TV Network has a bouquet of channels, which includes news channels, general entertainment channels and a movie channel.
The AIADMK has been devastated by strife, because Jayalalitha died in December and her nearest partner Sasikala, took charge of the party. Before taking over as Chief Minister, she was jailed four years ago by the Supreme Court.
