The Madras High Court today issued a notice to J Jayalalithaa's niece and nephew on a petition by a woman claiming to be the biological daughter of the former Tamil Nadu chief minister and seeking a DNA test to establish her parentage. Justice S Vaidyanathan, who issued notice to Jayalalithaa's niece J Deepa and nephew J Deepak, said the court cannot order a DNA test as the petition's maintainability was yet to be argued.

If the petitioner's plea was accepted, "it will result in opening of a Pandora¿s box, which will only lead to more deterioration of the privacy" of Jayalalithaa, he said. The woman had last month moved the Supreme Court with the same prayer but it had refused to entertain the plea. She had claimed that she was given in adoption to Jayalalithaa's sister and her husband. The apex court had, however, said she was at liberty to
approach the high court. Jayalalithaa died on December 5 last year after prolonged hospitalisation and her body was buried off the famous Marina
Beach here. Referring to the petitioner's claim that late actor Shobhan Babu was her father, the judge asked why she had not sought a DNA test to prove it.