Hearing a public interest litigation filed by an AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) member, the court referred to the media reports about the secrecy surrounding Jayalalithaa’s health condition while she was in Apollo Hospitals, and said it too had doubts.
The court pointed out that after news reports on Jayalalithaa’s health getting better there suddenly came reports of her death.
The court issued notices in this regard to the prime minister, and the central and state governments. The court also observed that no revenue division officer saw the body nor was any health report given.
The court also asked whether the guidelines given in the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose case were followed in Jayalalithaa’s case, when it came to the death of a person with a large public following. Jayalalithaa was admitted to the Apollo Hospitals for 75 days. Nobody was allowed to see her in hospital as it was claimed that this could lead to a risk of causing infection. Reacting to the court’s observations, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder S Ramadoss demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into Jayalalithaa’s death.
Citing reports of amputation of Jayalalithaa’s legs, Ramadoss said if this was true, it was not known whether the permission for the surgery was obtained from her blood relatives or from the state government.
He said that normally when hospitalised a patient tended to lose weight, but Jayalalithaa did not seem to have lost any weight.
Meanwhile, V K Sasikala, a close aide of the late chief minister, has agreed to head the party, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said yesterday.
Panneerselvam said that Sasikala would formally assume charge as the party’s general secretary soon. Earlier in the day, the ruling AIADMK passed a resolution that Sasikala was the only person fit to become general secretary.
There was no other contestant for the AIADMK’s top post.