Nearly after six years when former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa breathed her last at Chennai’s Apollo Hospitals, the controversy around her death made a comeback once again with the Justice Arumughaswamy Commission submitting its report to the state government.
The Commission prepared a 500-odd pages report in English and around 600 pages in Tamil after hearing about 150 witnesses. The report was tabled in the state Assembly on Tuesday.
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.
The actor-turned-politician was admitted in Apollo Hospitals for 75 days before her death on December 5, 2016.
Jayalalithaa Death Controversy- How It Started
Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa and nephew Deepak and several AIADMK leaders had raised doubts over circumstances surrounding the former CM’s death. There are mysteries over the actual date of her death. Though the hospital said she died on December 5, 2016 but local media reported her death on December 4. An AIADMK leader said ‘Amma’ was pushed at her Poes Garden residence in Chennai, leading to her hospitalisation in September and called for a probe.
On August 17, 2017, then Edapaddi K Palaniswami government announced to investigate the causes of the former CM’s death. A Commission head by Justice Arumughaswamy, a retired judge of the Madras High Court, began its hearing on November 22, 2017.
Justice Arumughaswamy Commission Report
The Commission recommended a probe against Jayalalithaa’s aide VK Sasikala, former health officials, the then chief secretary Rama Mohana Rao and others which includes doctors. It “indicts” Sasikala for circumstances that led to the former CM’s death and also said former health minister and AIADMK leader C Vijayabhaskar, then health secretary J Radhakrishan and a media doctor KS Sivakumar “have to be found fault with and investigation is to be ordered”, Times of India reported.
The report raised questions as to why Jayalalithaa was not taken abroad for the treatment and angioplasty, which was suggested by eminent doctors from UK and US, was not conducted.
“They (hospital) successfully threw it to the wind on the pretext of postponing it to achieve their aim under some pressure. Hence, investigation is to be ordered,” it said.
The report stated that the former chief minister died on December 5, 2016, at 11.30 pm, as per Apollo Hospital. But, the witness said Jayalalithaa died on December 4, 2016, between 3 pm and 3.50 pm. The announcement was delayed and tactful activities, such as sternotomy and CPR, were used to distort the timing and disclose her death.
According to the report, it went into aspects such as the late CM’s hospitalisation on September 22, 2016, and treatment provided to her. It was discussed in detail at the cabinet meeting in August, two days after Justice Arumughaswamy submitted it to CM MK Stalin.
Sasikala Denies All Allegations Levelled by Panel
Expelled AIADMK leader VK Sasikala on Tuesday denied all the allegations levelled against her in a commission’s report probing circumstances surrounding former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016.
“I deny all the allegations levelled against me in the report. I never interfered in the medical treatment of J Jayalalithaa. I am ready to face an inquiry on this,” she said, reacting to the 608-page report of the Justice A Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry.
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