The Income-Tax Department asked her who foot the bill for the grandest wedding in politics, and Jayalalitha said quite simply, since she was the Chief Minister, many people loved her and had sent her money orders, demand drafts, cheques and cash at the time of the wedding. ``All this came from the people. I never spent anything. The people spent it. I was the chief minister. What can I do if people spend on behalf of me. Can I send it back? They have sent it (the money).''

While a conservative IT estimate at the time of the marriage had put the expenditure at about Rs 10 crore, only about Rs 5.16 crore was accounted for by Jayalalitha, Sasikala, Sivaji Ganesan and others in the group. On the other hand, Jayalalitha and thegroup had claimed that they had spent only about Rs 1.59 crore. The department said it could not verify other expenditure which could have run into crores, for want of bills.

Jayalalitha reportedly got her chosen officials to draw her assessment, and yet, her story does not wash with them.

Most of the cheques and demand drafts originated from the same set of banks, mostly outside Chennai. It is not known whether money was deposited in these banks just before the DDs and cheques were issued.

According to IT investigations, securing an invitation to the wedding meant sending one kg of gold bars to the group. One liquor major sent about 700 crates of liquor, whose delivery was reportedly covered by bogus bills.

Every `invitee' received a silver plate, an `expensive' saree, jewellery, and even cash, along with the invitation card. The I-T Department received `confirmation letters' of having received the gifts from at least 400 invitees. Many of them, however, later retracted.

Meanwhile, the I-TDepartment issued a notice to Jayalalitha on March 31, 1999, to pay tax of about Rs one crore following assessments of her claims on investment in the construction of the extension building at her Poes Garden residence in Chennai, the Jeedi Metla farmhouse on the outskirts of Hyderabad, and the marriage of her foster son V N Sudhagaran.

Jayalalitha has been given time till April 31 to pay. Investigations have revealed a gross understatement of the money spent on the Jeedi Metla farmhouse and on the extravagant marriage of Sudhagaran.

Jayalalitha, in her returns filed late, admitted an expenditure of Rs 1.45 crore in construction at her Poes Garden house in Chennai against the department's verified estimates of Rs 3.51 crore. She admitted an expenditure of Rs 1.19 crore at the Hyderabad farmhouse, but I-T department estimates put the expenditure at Rs 2.77 crore.

Jayalalitha had not filed the return of income within the due date for the assessment year 1995-96. The return was filed in response to I-Tnotices. The I-T Department issued notice under Section 16 (1) of the Gift Tax Act on January 27, 1998, to tax the value of her gifts for Sudhagaran's betrothal/marriage.

The assessment regarding properties and the marriage expenditure, completed in March 1999, has however, accepted an expenditure less than the original assessment, it is learnt.