[Jayalalithaa’s Death] Madras High Court Seeks Details Of Steps Taken By Govt On Arumugasamy Report

The bench of Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy made the inquiry in a plea filed by RR Gopaljee, publisher of a Tamil newspaper.

After the huge furor over the death of the former CM and doubts being raised against the medical treatment provided to her, the Government of Tamil Nadu constituted the Commission to inquire into the circumstances, health condition, and situation leading to the hospitalization of Jayalalithaa and the treatment provided to her till her demise on 5^th December 2016.

In its report dated August 23, 2022 the Commission found various discrepancies and stated that there were lapses in her treatment. The report also claimed that the hospital failed to disclose the facts relating to the medical condition and the course of treatment given to Jayalalithaa.

The commission had thus found Jayalalithaa’s aid Sasikala, former health minister Dr. C Vijayabhasker, Dr. KS Sivakumar (Jayalalithaa’s personal physician) and former health secretary Dr. J Radhakrishnan guilty. It had also requested for an investigation into the death and action against those involved.

Gopaljee claimed that even though 7 years had passed since the demise of Jayalalithaa and six months had passed since the publication of the report, no effective legal process or action had been taken against those involved in the conspiracy. Thus, he sought for a CBI enquiry into the death of Jayalalithaa.

Advocate General R Shunmughasundaram informed the court that the report was forwarded to the health department as it contained a lot of medical terms and details of the treatment provided to the late CM. The AG further sought time to get details regarding the steps taken. Thus, the court adjourned the case to March 27 and granted a weeks time to the state to furnish details.

Case Title: RR Gopaljee v Union of India and others

Case No: WP No. 8489 of 2023