TN Cabinet to table report by Justice Armughaswamy on death of J Jayalalithaa in Assembly, with action taken report.
Retired Justice Arumughaswamy submitting the final report of the commission to Chief Minister MK Stalin on 27 August. (Supplied)
The Tamil Nadu Cabinet on Monday, 29 August, said it will consult legal experts on the recommendation by the retired justice Arumughaswamy Commission — constituted by the AIADMK government in 2017 to probe the circumstances around the death of late chief minister J Jayalalithaa — to initiate inquiries against several people close to the late AIADMK chief.
The commission has recommended that inquiries be initiated against VK Sasikala, a close aide of Jayalalithaa, the late chief minister’s doctor, Dr Sivakumar, who is also a relative of Sasikala, former health minister Dr C Vijayabhaskar, former chief secretary Ram Mohan Rao, and others.
This was mentioned in a statement released after the Cabinet meeting that was chaired by Chief Minister MK Stalin. The statement added that the Cabinet had decided to table the report submitted by Justice Armughaswamy in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, along with an action taken report.
Justice Arumughaswamy submitted his final report nearly five years after he was assigned the task, and after the commission’s term was extended multiple times over the years to complete its probe.
According to Justice Arumughaswamy, the commission heard over 150 witnesses, and the 608-page Tamil report and 500-page English report are in two parts: One dealing with the pre-hospitalisation period, and the other focused on the period after Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospitals in Chennai on 22 September, 2016.
A few days back, the Supreme Court-appointed AIIMS medical board gave a clean chit to Apollo Hospitals, declaring that the medical treatment given to Jayalalithaa by the hospital was as per “correct medical practice” and had “no errors”.
It is unclear at this point as to why the commission has recommended a government inquiry against Sasikala, Dr Sivakumar, Dr Vijayabhaskar and Ram Mohan Rao.
When reporters questioned Justice Arumughaswamy about why Sasikala was not summoned to depose before the commission, he said notices had been issued to Sasikala, but the commission could not force her to appear as she said that she didn’t want to appear in person.
The Cabinet also took up the report submitted by the Aruna Jagadeesan Commission of Inquiry, which was set up to probe the 2018 Tuticorin police firing.
The commission has named top police officials and bureaucrats in its report and has recommended action against them for the “dastardly act” which took place on 22 May, 2018, in the port town of Tuticorin, now Thoothukudi. Thirteen people protesting against a company, Sterlite, were shot dead by the police.
The report of the commission has been sent to the concerned departments for necessary action, and the Cabinet decided to table the full report in the Assembly, along with an action taken report.
The Cabinet also discussed the issue of online rummy games and its impact on society. The government is set to promulgate an ordinance against online rummy and other such gambling games based on the report submitted by the retired justice K Chandru-led committee, and inputs from stakeholders.
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