Jaya maternity row: Notice to Apollo

The Madras High Court has issued notice to Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, on a sub-application filed on behalf of S Amrutha claiming to be the daughter of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa that she was yet to receive any reply to the notice sent by her seeking to know whether the biological samples of the late AIADMK leader are preserved by the hospital or not.

Justice S Vaidyanathan before whom the plea came up for hearing on Friday, adjourned the matter to March 7 after accounting for Advocate General Vijay Narayan’s submission that the matter raised in the plea is under investigation. 

The Advocate General also informed the court that efforts were under way to verify the old records. Amrutha’s main plea had sought for a direction to the Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner and the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu government to consider her representation dated December 09, 2017 to permit the family members of the late Jayalalithaa to cremate her body as per the rites, rituals, customs of Vaishnava Iyengar Brahmin community to which the late Jayalalithaa and her family belonged to. 

It may be noted that former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa and nephew Deepak who were impleaded in the case have filed a counter stating that the averments by Amrutha were a bundle of lies. 

Deepak had contended that all such false statements even otherwise could be taken as disputed questions of facts, which are to be proved in a manner known to law. Deepa in her counter submitted that the petition is filed with an intention to cheat. 

However, Justice Vaidyanathan kept pending an impleading petition moved by AIADMK Karnataka state unit secretary Pugazhendhi against Amrutha claims being false, after her counsel as well as the government raised objections.