Chennai: The mystery shrouding the death of chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s may finally clear as sources say the one-man commission, headed by retired judge A Arumughaswamy, probing the circumstances that led to the demise of the AIADMK supremo, plans to submit its report to the government on or before her birth anniversary 24 February.
The probe is said to have reached the final stages and former AIADMK minister C Ponnaiyan and Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan, summoned by the commission, today marked their attendance. Radhakrishnan had already deposed before the panel 14 December.
Health Minister C Vijaya Baskar, who was also asked to appear before the commission today, gave it a skip. He had informed the commission that he had prior personal commitments and would not be able to make an appearance. According to reports, the commission would issue fresh summons to the Health Minister to appear before it.
Vijaya Baskar was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation for the past few days in connection with the gutkha scam.
It is to be noted that the commission has summoned Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam to depose 21 December.
The panel was set up to probe the death of the AIADMK supremo, who was treated for 75 days at Apollo Hospitals. Formation of the commission was one of the conditions laid by O Panneerselvam to merge his faction with that of Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami. The commission has so far questioned more than 140 people, including doctors from Apollo and AIIMS who treated Jayalalithaa. Some of them were cross-examined by V K Sasikala’s counsel.