The Tamil Nadu government on Monday set up an inquiry commission headed by a retired High Court judge to probe AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa’s death, amid renewed demands for a thorough investigation after a State minister claimed their party leaders had lied about her health condition.
A government statement said Justice (Retd) Arumugasamy will head the inquiry into the circumstances leading to the death of the former Chief Minister on December 5 last year, after 75 days of treatment at Apollo Hospitals here.
Doubts have been raised over the events leading to Jayalalithaa’s hospitalisation on Sept 22, 2016 and her death by various quarters with opposition parties including the DMK demanding a CBI probe.
The probe into the AIADMK supremo’s demise was a key pre-condition of rebel leader and now Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam for the merger of faction led by him and that of CM Edappadi Palaniswami.
After Panneerselvam had first demanded a probe, Apollo Hospitals called a media conference in February seeking to put to rest apprehensions of foul play. A team of doctors who had treated Jayalalithaa explained the procedure of her treatment.
Monday’s announcement by the government came amid renewed demands by opposition parties for a probe after Forest Minister Dindigul C Srinivasan’s ‘revelation’ that AIADMK leaders had lied about Jayalalithaa’s well-being during her hospitalisation. He had claimed that they had only repeated what Jayalalithaa’s close aide VK Sasikala wanted them to state.
Srinivasan had also demanded that the Sasikala camp make public the video evidence which it claimed to possess on the treatment of the late leader.
Meanwhile, sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran said he would submit before any probe agency a video of Jayalalithaa shot by his aunt Sasikala. He claimed it had not been released as Jayalalithaa was then clad in a “nightie”.