Jaya death: AIADMK member moves HC against TN govt's panel of

The Madras High Court will hear tomorrow a petition challenging the commission of inquiry set up by the Tamil Nadu government to probe the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa.
The first bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sunder today said they would hear the matter tomorrow when senior counsel K M Vijayan made a special mention for taking up the PIL filed by an AIADMK member.
The state government had on September 25 appointed retired high court judge A Arumugasamy as the one-man commission of inquiry to look into the circumstances leading to Jayalalithaa's hospitalisation in September last and the subsequent treatment.

Petitioner P A Joseph contended that the inquiry commission had been set up without complying with mandatory requirements under Section 3 of the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952.
He submitted that as per the provisions of the section, the opinion of the government and a resolution passed by the assembly were required for setting up such inquiry panels.
He claimed that the government order (GO) appointing Justice (retd) Arumugasamy as the commission of inquiry was based only on the opinion of government and there was no assembly resolution.

The petitioner said in the present case, the entire state machinery was involved in Jayalalithaa's hospitalisation and treatment till her death on December 5 last year.

He alleged that there would be "bias" and every possibility of "influence and pressure" when it comes to a commission constituted by the state government itself, and claimed the present panel cannot be expected to carry out an independent inquiry.
It would only be proper that the central government step in and constitute an independent inquiry commission as I had prayed in an earlier writ petition, Joseph said.
The petitioner sought a direction from the court to declare the GO appointing Justice Arumugaswamy as illegal, malafide and against the provisions of the Commission of Inquiry Act.
Jayalalithaa was admitted to the Apollo Hospitals here for fever and dehydration on September 22, 2016. After a prolonged treatment, she died on December 5 following a cardiac arrest.

Doubts have been raised over the events leading to Jayalalithaa's hospitalisation and her death by various quarters with opposition parties including the DMK demanding a CBI probe.
Then rebel leader O Panneerselvam, presently deputy chief minister, had also demanded a probe as a pre-condition for merger of factions led by him and Chief Minister K Palaniswami.
Four days ahead of the merger, Palaniswami had on \ August 17 announced that a commission of inquiry would go into the death of Jayalalithaa.