Madras High Court moved for probe into Jayalalithaa’s hospitalisation, death

More than three weeks after the demise of former AIADMK Supremo J Jayalalithaa, a PIL has been filed in the Madras High Court seeking a commission comprising retired Supreme Court judges to look into “questionable incidents”, including her sudden hospitalisation, reported recovery and the cardiac arrest resulting in her death.

Petitioner PA Joseph, a city resident, listed the sequence of events since Jayalalithaa’s admission to Apollo Hospital here on September 22 and claimed that the “secrecy” preceding her death gave rise to “grave doubts” in the minds of the people.

The public interest litigation, which listed 12 respondents, including the Apollo Hospitals chairman, is likely to be taken up for hearing by the vacation bench of the court on December 29.

The petitioner pleaded that the commission must peruse all the records, reports and documents in possession of the government as well as the hospital and look into “several questionable incidents”, including her sudden hospitalisation, reported recovery and the subsequent cardiac arrest resulting in her death on December 5.

The commission should have at least three retired Supreme Court judges, the PIL pleaded, adding that they should also inquire into the “affixing” of Jayalalithaa’s thumb impression on election forms of her party nominees in by-polls, her advice to the Tamil Nadu Governor while “still on ventilator” and the “drama” played out at the Apollo Hospital premises on December 4-5.

Unless all the relevant documents were taken into the court’s custody, there was a great possibility that the same could be tampered with, the PIL claimed.

It also referred to the hospital’s periodical medical bulletins which had claimed that the former AIADMK supremo was recovering, registration of 43 cases by the police and the arrests of some persons who had raised doubts over Jayalalithaa’s health condition.