Asked Apollo Hospitals to draft memo to probe Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016
The Supreme Court on Thursday orally said that it will protect the interests of Apollo Hospitals and supports the constitution of a medical board of experts from AIIMS to collect facts on the death of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, Justice A. . Arumughaswamy supports the efforts of the Commission of Inquiry. hospital in 2016
A division bench of Justice S Abdul Nazeer and Justice Krishna Murari asked the hospital, represented by senior advocate Aryama Sundaram and advocate Rohini Musa, to prepare a memorandum, detailing what it wanted during the investigation. The court said it will examine the memo and pass orders. The court asked the hospital to share a copy of its memorandum with the inquiry commission by Monday. It gave the next list of cases on Tuesday.
Apollo had moved the apex court accusing the commission of bias, violation of principles of natural justice and fact-finding exercise outside its jurisdiction. The commission, represented by senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, had refuted the allegation of bias, saying it was “rhetorical made without providing any view of the matter”.
Mr Sundaram had argued that the reputation of the premier Chennai hospital was “degraded overnight” by the commission, which took a tangent that was “unbelievable”. The senior lawyer said that the path taken by the commission was straight out of a fairy tale Alice in Wonderland,
The hospital had requested the Supreme Court to direct the commission to allow sharing of records and examination of witnesses in the process of investigation.
“Whatever evidence you wish to cross-examine, we will allow you. You can put whatever you want in the memo. We will examine it. We agree with your suggestion to constitute a medical board. We will protect your interests,” the bench said. Orally addressed to the hospital.
The hospital had also insisted on the commission to act under the scanner and follow the procedure, as noted earlier by the Madras High Court.
Mr Sundaram had submitted how the commission had also sought medical records regarding the hospitalization of another former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, MG Ramachandran 37 years ago and his transfer to Brooklyn Hospital in the United States. The CoI had written to Dr. Pratap C Reddy, Chairperson, Apollo, for information.
The court orally advised the Tamil Nadu government to provide a large room for hearing the commission to accommodate the media and potential medical board members.
The state had on September 25, 2017 appointed a commission of inquiry headed by Justice Arumughaswamy, a retired judge of the Madras High Court. The Commission’s reference was to inquire into the circumstances that led to Jayalalithaa’s hospitalization on 22 September 2016 and the nature of treatment to determine the reason for the hospitalization.
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