Jayalalithaa death case: Madras High Court asks Tamil Nadu to detail steps taken on Justice Arumugaswamy Inquiry Commission report

The High Court of Madras has directed the State of Tamil Nadu to submit within a week, details regarding the steps taken on the basis of the Justice Arumugasamy Inquiry Commission report, which probed the death case of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

The order was passed by the Bench of Acting Chief Justice T. Raja and Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy on a petition filed by R.R. Gopaljee, publisher of a Tamil newspaper.

In the wake of huge outcry over the circumstances that led to the death of Jayalalithaa, including the medical treatment provided to her, the Tamil Nadu government constituted a Commission to inquire into the circumstances, health condition and situation leading to the hospitalisation of Jayalalithaa and the treatment provided to her till her demise on December 5, 2016.

The Commission submitted its report on August 23, 2022, alleging lapses in treatment of the former Chief Minister. The report further claimed that the hospital failed to disclose the facts relating to the medical condition and the course of treatment given to Jayalalithaa.

It raised suspicion on Jayalalithaa’s aid Sasikala, former health minister Dr. C Vijayabhasker, Dr. KS Sivakumar (Jayalalithaa’s personal physician) and former health secretary Dr. J Radhakrishnan in her death case. 

The Commission sought investigation into Jalalitha’s death and action against the guilty. 

Seeking CBI probe into the death of Jayalalithaa, Gopaljee claimed that even though seven 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. 

Advocate General R. Shunmughasundaram, appearing for the State of Tamil Nadu, 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 former Chief Minister. 

After the AG sought further time to get details regarding the steps taken, the court adjourned the case to March 27, while granting the State one week for the same.

(Case title: RR Gopaljee vs Union of India and others)