No hurdle before Arumugasamy Commission to continue inquiry: TN HC

The Madras High Court made it clear on Friday that there is no impediment for the Justice A Arumugasamy Commission to continue its inquiry into the circumstances that led to the hospitalisation and subsequent death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

A division bench of Justice R Subbiah and Justice Krishnan Ramasamy made the observation while adjourning to March 1 the hearing of pleas by Apollo Hospitals seeking an interim stay on the proceedings relating to the medical treatment provided to Jayalalithaa.

When the pleas came up for hearing, senior counsel for the hospital, PS Raman, submitted that the petitioner needed some more time to file a reply with supporting typed sets to the counter filed by the commission.

Objecting to the request, senior counsel for the commission, A R L Sundaresan, informed the court that they are ready for arguments and that no additional time should be given to the petitioner.

Recording this, the bench adjourned the plea and said there was no impediment for the commission to proceed further with the inquiry.

In the last hearing, the commission had opposed the plea of Apollo Hospitals assailing its powers and submitted that the terms of reference cover the medical treatment provided to the former chief minister also.

The commission was constituted for inquiring into the circumstances and situation leading to the hospitalisation of Jayalalithaa on September 22, 2016 and subsequent treatment provided to her till her demise on December 5, 2016.

It is the duty of the commission to inquire into all the aspects of treatment in terms of the reference, commission secretary S Komala said through a counter affidavit.

She said the commission has almost completed the inquiry.