The Arumugasamy commission probing the death of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, has summoned former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam (OPS) and Ilavarasi, the sister-in-law of Jayalalithaa's former aide VK Sasikala, on March 21, sources told IANS.
As per the sources, the summons has been issued to both OPS and Ilavarasi, and is likely to reach them in a couple of days. In the past, AIADMK leader OPS was summoned by the commission several times but he skipped the meetings citing heavy workload. In 2019, Panneerselvam, then Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, informed the legislative house that he would “speak the truth” before the commission.
Doctors of Apollo hospitals, where Jayalalithaa was under treatment, were also summoned by the commission after it resumed proceedings after three years. Sources in the commission told IANS that three doctors deposed before the commission on Tuesday, March 8. A few more doctors will depose before the commission on March 15, the sources added.
After the commission resumed sitting, the lawyer representing VK Sasikala, Raja Senthoor Pandian said that former Health Minister Vijayabaskar and Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan must be called for deposition. The advocate said that both Vijayabaskar and Radhakrishnan were in the know of all the treatments given to the late Chief Minister.
Jayalalithaa was admitted to Chennai’s Apollo Hospital on September 22, 2016. She had passed away on December 5 after a prolonged period of hospitalisation after suffering a cardiac arrest on the previous day.
In December last year, the Supreme Court directed the constitution of a medical board to assist the Commission of Inquiry set up to probe Jayalalithaa’s death. A bench comprising Justice SA Nazeer and Justice Krishna Murari asked the Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, to nominate a panel of doctors and specialists in the fields of treatment of the ailments as suffered by Jayalalithaa.
"We are also of the view that it is just and proper to constitute a medical board to assist the commission in the disposal of the case. Needless to say that the Commission has to furnish the said medical board, so constituted, with complete records of the proceedings. The medical board, so appointed, is permitted to participate in all further proceedings of the commission and furnish a copy of the report to the commission," the bench had said.
With PTI and IANS inputs