Panel lawyers’ visit to Apollo postponed

Lawyers Niranjan and Parthasarathy of the enquiry commission were slated to visit Apollo Hospital’s intensive care unit and the room that Jayalalithaa was treated during her stay. The lawyers were to visit the hospital at 10.30 am on Friday, but the visit was cancelled at the last hour.

Apollo Hospitals cited that it was unable to adequately prepare for such an unannounced visit as it would disrupt the schedule of patients visiting the hospital and those staying for treatment. Taking cognisance of this, the enquiry Commission cancelled the visit which will be rescheduled to a later date. Jayalalithaa spent 75 days at the hospital following her admission on September 22, 2016, after taking ill at her residence in Poes Garden. She passed away on December 5, 2016.

The documents submitted by Apollo Hospitals to the enquiry Commission stirred controversy as it was stated that Jayalalithaa was allowed to consume sweets such as Gulab Jamun and Rasgulla during her stay at the hospital even though she was a chronic diabetic. This information was corroborated by TTV Dhinakaran, who said that the former chief minister consumed sweets to celebrate AIADMK’s victory in the by-elections.