Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government has appointed retired Madras High Court judge Justice A Arumugasamy to probe the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa.
The appointment of the commission of inquiry comes after a series of flip-flops by ministers in the state government and the rival camps of AIADMK on the conditions leading up to Amma’s death. Jayalalithaa had died of a heart attack on December 5 last year after a prolonged treatment for infection and other complications.
Chief Minister EK Palaniswami had announced on August 17 that a judicial probe would be set up but had not disclosed the name of the judge. The probe was one of the key conditions for the merger of the two rival factions of the AIADMK led by the CM and Jaya loyalist O Panneerselvam.
Panneerselvam has been demanding a CBI probe into the “mysterious death” of Jaya. He has long maintained that he or his supporters were not allowed to see Jayalalithaa in the hospital though they had stayed put at the hospital all along the 75-day stay. The Sasikala camp did not even listen to suggestions that Jayalalithaa should be taken to the UK or the US for treatment, OPS had claimed.
The announcement of the probe comes just days after Tamil Nadu forest minister Dindigul C Srinivasan admitted that he had lied about Jayalalithaa’s improving health. Seeking forgiveness from the people of the state and party cadres, he had said that party leaders lied about Amma’s death because they were afraid of Sasikala. “Whoever came, would be briefed by Sasikala's relatives that she was ‘all right’,” he said.
Hitting back, rebel AIADMK leader TTV Dinakaran has said that he has video evidence of Jayalalithaa watching television at Apollo hospital and claimed it was his aunt VK Sasikala who had recorded the clips.
“We have the video recordings but we didn't want to degrade her (Jayalalithaa’s) dignity as she was wearing a night dress. My aunt (Sasikala) didn't permit us to use it except for a judicial probe,” he said on Monday, adding that he would hand over the footage to the judge probing the death.
Ever since Jayalalithaa’s death, there have been allegations of foul play. Fingers have been pointed at Sasikala, who was a close aide of the late CM and who lived with Jayalalithaa.
The conspiracies surrounding her death include that she was poisoned, or may even have been pushed at her home in September 22 last year, after which remained admitted in the hospital. Doctors though have maintained that the death was caused by a sudden cardiac arrest.
Comments
0 comment