Ex-minister’s clarification in actress will row sought

By Ashraf Padanna/ThiruvananthapuramThe state ombudsman yesterday demanded former Kerala minister K B Ganesh Kumar explain why the late actress Srividya’s will had not yet been executed.Srividya, who died in 2006, had entrusted Kumar, a smalltime actor and Kerala Congress (B) legislator, to form a trust to set up a dance and music academy using her assets worth millions of rupees.Lok Ayukta Pius Kuriakose sent a notice to Kumar after Sankararaman, brother of the later actress who died of cancer, deposed before the court that his two sons were not given Rs1mn as she willed.Sankararaman had lodged a complaint with the Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy three years ago after Kumar ignored his repeated requests. Chandy, however, did not act as Kumar was then a member of his cabinet.Sankararaman met Chandy again on Wednesday and sought his intervention on the matter. The chief minister assured Sankararaman that he would refer the case to the director general of police (DGP).“According to my sister’s will, two of my sons are entitled to Rs500,000 each. I used to call Kumar initially and he kept promising to execute the will. Later he started ignoring me,” Sankararaman, 63, told reporters.A trust formed under Kumar to execute the will is now defunct.Initially, Kumar insisted that the assets of the actress, who was active in Malayalam and Tamil film industry for almost four decades beginning as child artiste, were embroiled in a legal tangle. However, he has now chosen to stay mum on the issue.Srividya’s assets included eight cents of land and a building in Thiruvananthapuram, a 1,250 sq ft apartment in a prime location in Chennai, gold ornaments (550 gm), silver (1.5 kg), precious stones, a car and bank deposits estimated at Rs1.7mn.Her brother also sought to know what the actor-turned-politician who enjoyed the power of attorney, had done with the proceeds from the insurance policies she held.Her will included instructions for the setting up a music and dance academy and financial assistance to some people close to her, including the two nephews.The petitioner told the court that Kumar held the power of attorney over all her properties.Sankararaman, who resides in Chennai, believes his sister had left assets amounting to millions of rupees besides that disclosed in the will and wants the chief minister to find out their whereabouts.He claims he is badly in need of money to repay the Rs3.5mn loan he has taken for his sons’ education. Srividya died on October 19, 2006, aged 53. Srividya had fought a legal battle for 15 years against her former husband, George Thomas, and regained her palatial home at Mahalingapuram in Chennai. She then sold the building and reinvested in various properties in Kerala.“I am bequeathing all my properties except some payments mentioned elsewhere in this bill. An appropriate body with eminent persons, registered under the Charitable Societies Act should be formed and the realised value of all my assets should be transferred as a nucleus fund,” she states in the four-page will dated August 17, 2006.