Chennai: There is no evidence to suggest former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s legs were amputated while in hospital or that she was administered slow poison, the Justice Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry, which probed her hospitalisation and death, has concluded.
Soon after Jayalalithaa’s death, a popular investigative Tamil magazine, had published a report claiming her legs could have been amputated. The Madras High Court too had one point referred to such reports and warned it would even order exhumation of her body buried on the Marina sea front.
The Commission of Inquiry, in its report, which was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, has debunked these theories. It dismissed the statement of Manoj Pandian, a sitting legislator of the O Panneerselvam camp, that Jayalalithaa might have been administered slow poison at her Poes Garden bungalow before her hospitalisation. “This evidence is nothing but a mere surmise and not supported by any material evidence. Though she was in the hospital for 75 days and many medical tests were performed, none of these test reports nor any doctor opined that she would have been administered slow poison. C.W.83 and C.W.101 have categorically stated that there was no trace of poison in her body as per her blood reports. Therefore, this allegation is rejected as ill founded and without any basis,” the report said.
As for former Minister C Ponnaiyan’s allegation that she was assaulted on her head with a wooden log leading to her falling unconscious, the Commission pointed out that during cross-examination, he had admitted that his evidence in the chief examination was based on some rumour that he heard.
“Further, the doctors did not notice any such trace of possible physical violence on the head of Late C.M. In this regard, the evidence of C.W.15 Dr.Sudha Seshayyan requires consideration at this stage. She was the one who did embalming on her body, after demise. She has stated that there were no pores on the face of the Late C.M. (as rumoured in the media) and if really there had been pores/holes in the body, at the time of embalming, there would have been flow of body fluid through the pores/holes. But, no such thing occurred. Thus according to her, there was no trace of any physical violence,” the ex-judge noted.
Referring to claims of Jayalalithaa’ leg having been amputated, he cited the evidence of a witness M Ayyappan, the driver, who “stated that, as per rituals, he tied both her toes with a cloth”. Citing the witness statements and exhibits, “this Commission is of the considered view that Late C.M’s legs and toes were proper and intact until she breathed her last. From the above evidence, it is proved that the rumours that the legs of the Late C.M were amputated below her knee, or she suffered injuries or was administered slow poison do not bear any truth and without basis and therefore they are summarily rejected.”
