Tamil Nadu law minister CV Shanmugam demanded a separate probe by a special police team into alleged lies of two bureaucrats. This is in addition to the ongoing investigation led by retired judge Justice A Arumughaswamy
Chennai: Tamil Nadu law minister CV Shanmugam alleged that bureaucrats J Radhakrishnan and P Rama Mohana Rao lied about former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa's heath.
J Jayalalithaa was hospitalised for 75 days in Apollo Hospital in Chennai before she was declared dead. Minister Shanmugam said that Jayalalithaa would have been alive, if she was treated properly.
He alleged that J Radhakrishnan, who was then the health secretary did not allow Jayalalithaa to be taken abroad for advanced treatment. He also said P Rama Mohana Rao, who was the chief secretary provided contradictory statements to a probe commission.
The minister demanded a separate probe into this by a special police team in addition to the ongoing investigation led by retired judge Justice A Arumughaswamy. He said that the sequence of events before the chief minister died on December 5, 2016 must be probed fairly.
Apollo Hospitals did not perform angiogram (a procedure for evaluating blockages in the arterial system) on Jayalalithaa despite advice from three doctors to go ahead with the procedure, the law minister alleged. He sought a report from Justice Arumughaswamy in this regard.
"Today, angiogram has become common. Who ignored angiogram treatment?" Shanmugam questioned.
"Several times, there were suggestions to take Amma (Jayalalithaa) abroad for treatment. Doctors have said this. Central government also offered air ambulance. All these were denied," Shanmugam told reporters at Villupuram, 160 km from Chennai. "Saving a patient's life is important than protecting the reputation of doctors... This government must probe his (Radhakrishnan) background," he said.
The Justice Arumughaswamy commission has implicated officers J Radhakrishnan and P Rama Mohana Rao following allegations by unnamed sources. It is alleged that Radhakrishnan colluded with Apollo Hospitals in not providing appropriate treatment to Jayalalithaa. The then chief secretary was held responsible for having purposely given false evidence, PTI reported.
Justice Arumughaswamy's counsel Mohammed Jafarullah Khan has sought his permission to implead Radhakrishnan and Rao as respondents in the investigation. The counsel said both the officers made contradictory statements before the one-man commission.
However, Radhakrishnan denied the allegations and termed it unfounded, baseless and wild.
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