The Arumugasamy Commission has filed a counter affidavit in the Supreme Court saying that Apollo Hospitals has motive behind its plea seeking a stay on the probe into the death of former chief minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa.
Chennai: Apollo hospital’s plea seeking a stay on the probe into the death of former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalithaa, has a vested interest says the Arumugasamy Commission who has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court on the matter.
The Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Limited on Greams Road in Chennai had moved the Madras high court to quash the two government orders which constituted the Justice A Arumugasamy Commission of Inquiry.
The petition sought to quash the records of the proceedings, findings and recording of the evidence by the Commission.
The petitioner further contended that there is a real danger of prejudice and bias apparent in the manner in which the Commission has been conducting examination of witnesses.
The counsel for a Commission of Inquiry probing the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa has alleged in a petition that Tamil Nadu health secretary J Radhakrishnan colluded and conspired with Apollo Hospital and "inappropriate treatment" was provided to her, sources said.
Also, the commission's counsel has alleged that the then chief secretary P Rama Mohana Rao, at the time of Jayalalithaa's hospitalisation in 2016, had "purposely given false evidence", they said.
The allegations were strongly refuted by both the health secretary and the hospital, while the former chief secretary said he was not aware of the petition.
The standing counsel for the Justice Arumugasamy Commision, Mohammed Jafarullah Khan, in a petition before the panel has sought to implead Radhakrishnan and Rao as respondents.
The counsel's petition alleges that the health secretary made contradictory statements before the panel and the official was also against taking Jayalalithaa abroad for treatment.
When contacted, Radhakrishnan dismissed the allegations levelled against him as "unfounded, baseless and wild" and said that he had, so far, not been served a copy of the petition filed by the commission's counsel.
The allegation that he "conspired and colluded" with Apollo Hospitals and acted like its spokesperson was "not only false, but also slanderous", the top official said.
"These allegations have caused tremendous stress and mental agony to me and in reality, I have only discharged my duties to the best of my ability," he had told reporters.
He said the treating doctors from Apollo and specialist consultants had concurred with the line of treatment for the former chief minister.
Jayalalithaa died on Dec 5, 2016 and the Commission of Inquiry was constituted the next year by the ruling AIADMK government following allegations and suspicions surrounding her death.
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