Jayalalithaa death probe panel submits 590-page report to Stalin

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New
Delhi,
Aug
27:
The
Justice
Arumughaswamy
Commission,
constituted
to
probe
the
circumstances
surrounding
late
Tamil
Nadu
Chief
Minister
J
Jayalalithaa’s
death,
submitted
its
report
to
the
state
government
on
Saturday.

Justice
Arumughaswamy,
who
later
spoke
to
reporters,
said
the
500-odd
pages
report
in
English
and
around
600
pages
in
Tamil
was
prepared
after
hearing
about
150
witnesses.
“158
witnesses
&
petitioners
were
examined.
Some
people
said
that
probe
was
dragged
by
me.
It’s
up
to
the
govt
to
take
a
decision
on
whether
the
probe
report
is
to
be
released
or
not.
Apollo
Hospital
&
Sasikala
have
cooperated
well
in
investigation”,
Arumughaswamy
said,
as
quoted
by
ANI.

”Only
the
government
can
decide
on
publishing
the
report,” he
said,
adding,
all
concerned
aspects
have
been
mentioned
in
the
report
and
said
it
was
a
”satisfying”
outing
for
him.
Many
felt
the
commission
”worked
like
a
court,”
he
added.

Among
the
witnesses
who
have
deposed
before
the
commission
includes
AIADMK
top
leader
O
Panneerselvam,
Jayalalithaa’s
niece
Deepa
and
nephew
Deepak,
doctors,
top
officials
and
AIADMK’s
C
Vijayabaskar
(former
health
minister),
M
Thambi
Durai,
C
Ponnaiyan
and
Manoj
Pandian.

Karnataka
ACB
files
chargesheet
against
6
persons,
including
Jayalalithaa
aide
Sasikala

Deepa
and
Deepak
had
raised
doubts
over
circumstances
surrounding
their
aunt’s
death.
V
K
Sasikala,
confidante
of
the
late
Chief
Minister
had
filed
an
affidavit
through
her
counsel
in
2018.

The
Arumughaswamy
Commission
of
Inquiry,
constituted
by
the
previous
AIADMK
government,
commenced
it’s
hearing
on
November
22,
2017.
Justice
Arumughaswamy
is
a
retired
judge
of
the
Madras
High
Court.

Sasikala’s
affidavit
was
related
to,
among
other
points,
the
circumstances
leading
to
Jayalalithaa’s
hospitalisation.
The
late
CM
was
admitted
in
Apollo
Hospitals
for
75
days
before
her
death
on
December
5,
2016.

During
the
recent
proceedings,
doctors
from
the
Apollo
Hospitals
briefed
through
video-conferencing
a
medical
board
of
AIIMS-Delhi
specialists
on
the
treatment
provided
to
Jayalalithaa.

The
AIIMS
panel
took
part
in
the
proceedings
virtually
to
help
the
Commission
handle
medical
aspects
as
per
the
Supreme
Court’s
direction.