Sheela Balakrishnan, Joseph meet Justice Arumughaswamy

After the conclusion of the meeting that lasted several hours, Balakrishnan exited the building, flanked by police and drove away, without taking any questions from the media. 

However, the judge had also summoned AIADMK party member PA Joseph of Arumbakkam, who was responsible for filing the PIL that listed the sequence of events from the time of Jayalalithaa’s hospitalisation at Apollo, and initiated the probe into the mysterious circumstances around her death. 

Speaking to DTNext,  after meeting Arumughaswamy, Joseph, who claims he filed the petition because ‘he wanted to see a real change with the truth coming out’, said, “I filed the PIL as I felt that there were many contradictions surrounding the circumstances of the CM’s death. I still have doubts about the medical report. We have been told that the embalming of the body was done in 15 minutes. This is impossible. I raised this issue with the Justice and he was in agreement with me. In addition to this there are rumours that the national level political parties and the central government may have been complicit in her death, but I am of the view that many state parties are involved in this conspiracy.”

He further added, “Vaiko has questioned why a judge must conduct an enquiry at all. Congress leader Thirunavukkarasu has also decried any enquiry, denouncing the need for investigation into the matter. The death of any high-profile leader in this manner usually elicits calls for an investigation. If I am not satisfied with the findings of Justice Arumughaswamy’s committee or feel like there has been a bias in the process, I will take the issue up with the courts.” 

“I’ve raised my concerns with Justice Arumughaswamy, and have also requested that the remains of the late CM be exhumed for a fresh post-mortem to ascertain the cause of death,” he said.