SC stays Madras HC order for verifying thumb impression of J Jayalalithaa

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Madras High Court’s order which had sought the records containing the thumb impression of former Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa as per a report by Suresh Kumar in the Times of India. 

On November 24, Justice P Velmurugan had directed the jail authorities at Parappana Agrahara in Bengaluru and officials of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), to produce the thumb impressions of Jayalalithaa, if they were available with them. 

This came after the DMK's Thirupparankundram bye-poll candidate, Dr P Saravanan, had raised doubts about the authenticity of Jayalalithaa's left thumb impression found on AIADMK candidate AK Bose's nomination papers. 

He alleged that Jayalalithaa’s fingerprints were taken while she was unconscious in hospital, with the collusion of the doctors and others who were attending to her. 

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud heard the matter on Friday. They issued a notice to the petitioner Dr P Saravanan and asked him to file a reply within 8 weeks. 

Bose’s plea stated, “It intruded into the fundamental right to privacy. Her (Jayalalithaa’s) death does not make any difference as right to privacy is available to every citizen during his/her life time and even after the death of that person.”

While seeking an ex parte stay of the interim high court order, the plea said, “The personal details of a third party which will undoubtedly include the fingerprint could not be divulged by the authorities holding the same without consent of the person to whom it belongs.”

Earlier on Monday, the Madras High Court dismissed a petition asking the court to direct Chennai police to file a complaint regarding J Jayalalithaa’s ‘suspicious’ death. 

The petition was filed by a lawyer named R Krishnamurthy. Justice MS Ramesh dismissed the case stating that an inquiry commission was looking into Jayalalithaa’s death and he should contact the commission for redressal and not waste the court’s time.