More than ten days after the Madras High Court expressed doubts over late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s death, the Tamil Nadu government has stated that it will file a response petition in a sealed cover to the court. The first bench of the Madras High Court was hearing a petition filed by AIADMK member Joseph seeking a judicial probe into Jayalalithaa’s “mysterious death”.
Apollo Hospital, where Jayalalithaa had been hospitalised, stated it would pass on her medical records only to her blood relatives, even as the bench questioned the petitioner’s locus standi on the matter. Joseph, the petitioner, observed that although he was not a blood relative, he was a member of the AIADMK, and a citizen of Tamil Nadu and therefore deserved to know what had happened to the former CM.
With the state government seeking time to submit the details, the court posted the case for 23 February.
On 29 December, the vacation bench comprising of Justice Vaidyanathan Justice Parthiban observed, “We have personal suspicions about Jayalalithaa’s death.” Referring to news reports during Jayalalithaa’s 75-day hospitalisation, the judge asked.
There were reports of her eating, talking, attending meetings and signing documents. Then how did she die all of a sudden. At least now after her death, the truth should be revealed.
The bench also went on to say that the court could order the exhumation and post-mortem of Jayalalithaa’s body. “Even after death, you have not given medical records, why can’t we order exhumation of the body?” the High Court asked the Tamil Nadu government. The bench went on to issue notices to the Prime Minister, state and central governments.
Jayalalithaa was declared dead on 5 December after suffering a cardiac arrest a day earlier. She had been hospitalised at Apollo Hospital on 22 September with fever and dehydration. Medical bulletins issued by the hospital initially stated that the Chief Minister was stable, under treatment, and required rest. Meanwhile, an intensivist from the UK, Dr Richard Beale, was flown in to oversee Jayalalithaa’s treatment along with a team of doctors from Apollo Hospital.
Doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences were also flown into help with Jayalalithaa’s course of treatment. However, Jayalalithaa suffered a cardiac arrest on 4 December and was pronounced dead at 11:30 pm the following day.
Following a funeral on 6 December attended by several leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jayalalithaa was laid to rest at the MGR memorial on Marina Beach in Chennai. The late CM was given a burial, instead of a cremation, just as her predecessors MGR and Annadurai were.
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