Jayalalithaa served four terms as Minister.
Chennai:
J Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016 after being hospitalized at a top hospital in Chennai should be investigated, a former judge concluded in a lengthy report on the beating to death of at least one top government official. head and VK Sasikala, the politician’s close aide who lives with her.
An investigative committee, led by a former Madras High Court judge, A Arumughaswamy, was set up in 2017 when Ms Jayalalithaa’s party, AIADMK, which governs Tamil Nadu, to sift through conspiracy theories, conflicting accounts of Jayalalithaa’s illness and treatment at Apollo. Hospitals, and legal requirements.
When the DMK took over the state in 2021, it reiterated its poll promise that it would ensure the circumstances that led to Ms Jayalalithaa’s death were investigated in detail. Justice A report by Arumughaswamy was presented to the government in August.
The report was shared by the government today at the Tamil Nadu council. It said that the highest-ranking official at the time of Ms. Jayalalithaa’s death, Chief of Staff, Dr Rama Mohana Rao, was guilty of criminal acts. The report also made strong remarks against then-Health Minister Vijaya Baskar and said that Apollo President Dr Pratap Reddy had made false statements about Ms Jayalalithaa’s condition.
Ms. Jayalalithaa, one of Tamil Nadu’s most powerful and charismatic politicians, served 4 terms as Minister. Once an actress, she was popularly known as Tamil Nadu’s “Mother” for AIADMK cadres but corruption allegations overcame her in the latter half of her career.
Her closest aide, VK Sasikala, has lived with her for decades. In 2017, Sasikala was arrested on corruption charges following Jayalalithaa’s death after being convicted in a disproportionate property case in which Ms Jayalalithaa was the main accused. Sasikala was released from prison in neighboring Karnataka four years later and her efforts to take charge of AIADMK were thwarted.
Among the witnesses who testified to the committee were top AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam, Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa and grandson Deepak, who said the politician died under mysterious circumstances, and Sasikala, who submitted a report. Apollo Hospital doctors testified about the treatment provided via video conference with experts at Delhi’s AIIMS, who were asked by the Supreme Court to review the matter.
