T.N. announces one-man panel to probe Jayalalithaa’s death

We don’t have anything to fear, says T.T.V. Dhinakaran.

Mortal remains of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa being kept at Rajaji Hall in Chennai on December 6, 2016. V.K. Sasikala and O. Panneerselvam are seen beside her.

The Tamil Nadu government on Monday announced the constitution of a Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice A. Arumughaswamy, retired judge of the Madras High Court, to investigate the death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

A short official release issued here said the Commission of Inquiry was “constituted to conduct an inquiry and submit a report on the death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa,” and a Government Order regarding the Commission was issued on Monday. However, till the time of filing of this report, the G.O. was not available in the public domain.

Earlier in the day, deposed AIADMK leader V.K. Sasikala’s (now in jail) nephew T.T.V. Dhinakaran told journalists that his family had

nothing to fear about any probe .

Video shot by Sasikala

“Let it be by CBI or Interpol. We don’t have any fear,” he said. However, he insisted that in case of a judicial probe, it should be led by a senior sitting High Court judge and not a retired judge. However, he insisted that in case of a judicial probe, it should be led by a senior sitting High Court judge and not a retired judge.

Incidentally while some Opposition party leaders including DMK working president M.K. Stalin had raised suspicions on the circumstances surrounding Jayalalithaa’s death over nine months ago, the ruling party had maintained that she was given the best treatment by doctors of Apollo Hospitals, AIIMS and London-based intensivist Richard Beale.

However, a few days after O. Panneerselvam revolted against then AIADMK interim general secretary V.K. Sasikala after having resigned as Chief Minister and proposing her name as leader of the AIADMK Legislature Party, he demanded a probe into Jayalalithaa’s death.

Later Mr. Panneerselvam had set this as one of the two preconditions for holding any talks of merger with the AIADMK (Amma).

In August this year, in a bid to lay the ground for a merger of the two AIADMK factions, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami announced that a Commission of Inquiry would be set up to probe Jayalalithaa’s death.