Commission probing Jayalalithaa death summons Panneerselvam

Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam has been summoned to appear on March 21 before the Justice A Arumughaswamy Commission inquiring into the circumstances that led to the death of J Jayalalithaa.

This is the eighth summon that has been sent to Panneerselvam to appear before the Commission – he had ignored all the seven summons sent in the past. The Commission has also summoned J Ilavarasi, Sasikala’s sister-in-law who stayed in the Poes Garden residence of Jayalalithaa, to appear before it on March 21.

While the seven summons were issued during the previous AIADMK regime, this is the first time that the Commission, under the DMK rule, has asked Panneerselvam to appear before it. The Commission has been wanting to examine Panneerselvam as he was one of the first to cast doubts on Jayalalithaa’s death.

In fact, the Commission is part of a compromise formula he arrived at with Edappadi K Palaniswami to be taken back into the AIADMK months after he rebelled against V K Sasikala. He had alleged that Jayalalithaa was hospitalised on September 22, 2016, under mysterious circumstances.

The Commission, which began its work in September 2017 and is yet to make any headway, resumed hearing on March 7 and is currently examining doctors from Apollo Hospitals who treated Jayalalithaa before and after her hospitalisation.

Dr Babu Manohar, an ENT specialist who performed a tracheostomy on Jayalalithaa at Apollo Hospitals, told the Commission on Monday that the late CM ignored advice from doctors to take rest, citing her official work.

The commission remained idle for two years after Apollo Hospitals, where Jayalalithaa was admitted for 75 days before she breathed her last due to a cardiac arrest on December 5, 2016, approached Supreme Court seeking a stay on the hearing.

The committee resumed its functions last month after the court asked AIIMS to constitute a medical advisory board to assist the Commission and provide expert opinion.

Jayalalithaa was wheeled into the Apollo Hospitals on the night of September 22, 2016, and she died on December 5 after a 75-day stay. The Commission has so far examined 100 witnesses, including Jayalalithaa’s official and personal staff, and Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan.

V K Sasikala, Jayalalithaa’s long-time friend, had submitted a voluminous response, narrating her side of the story and how her conviction by a Bengaluru court in 2014 triggered a host of health issues for the former chief minister. The commission recently got its 12th extension – this time for five months -- till June 24, the second after the DMK came to power.

Jayalalithaa’s death is one of the most politicised issues in Tamil Nadu in the past few years with DMK also demanding a “fair probe” into the AIADMK leader’s demise. The DMK also raked up Jayalalithaa’s death in the run-up to the polls and at one time, the party also demanded a CBI probe.

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