Cabinet meet during Jayalalithaa treatment: Ministers counter each other

CHENNAI: Health minister C Vijayabaskar on Monday told the Justice (retd) A Arumughaswamy commission that the cabinet met on October 19, 2016, when former chief minister J Jayalalithaa was in hospital, to discuss her health. “This is contrary to law minister C Ve Shanmugham’s statement that the cabinet did not meet on that date,” said Raja Senthoor Pandian, counsel for V K Sasikala.


The cabinet prayed for her quick recovery, but did not discuss anything about taking her abroad for treatment, sources quoted Vijayabaskar as saying.

The minister also added that he had no doubts about the treatment given by

Apollo Hospitals

, multiple sources present at the proceedings said. His deposition lasted six hours with cross-examination by Pandian and Apollo counsel Maimoona Badsha. According to sources, Vijayabaskar said he would only reply to queries pertaining to Jayalalithaa’s hospitalisation and death.

To a question on suspicions and doubts about the condition in which Jayalalithaa was brought to Apollo on September 22, 2016, Vijayabaskar reportedly said he had no such doubts. He also told the panel that deputy CM O Panneerselvam knew everything about the treatment being given to her.

C Vijaybhaskar refuses to answer political questions at hearing

Vijayabaskar told the commission that he saw Jayalalithaa once, on October 7, 2016, when she was being wheeled in for tracheostomy, Pandian said. “He reiterated what health secretary J Radhakrishnan said and concurred with points made by him,” Pandian added. Vijayabaskar said he gave his suggestions to Apollo. Responding to a question from Pandian if O Pannerselvam had raised any doubts about the treatment given to Jayalalithaa, Vijayabaskar said no. He also stated that Jayalalithaa’s health was improving from October 1 to 12 and that the topic of foreign treatment came up, but the doctors had decided that it was not necessary. Vijayabaskar told the commission that

Richard Beale

came to Apollo at the behest of the state government, sources said.

Vijayabaskar was asked political questions as well as some pertaining to various probes, sources said. To this Vijayabaskar took offence, stating that he was a sitting minister and he would bring an advocate or file just an affidavit and leave rather than face such questions, sources said. “I treated her like my mother, but now you are posing such questions to me,” sources quoted an exasperated Vijayabaskar as saying during the proceedings. Later he told presspersons that Jayalalithaa was responsible for his political career and that he was yet to come to terms with her loss.

On Monday, when the bunch of petitions pertaining to formation of a medical board came up before the commission, Pandian asked the commission’s standing counsel, Mohammed Jafarullah Khan, to show evidence regarding the allegations he had made against Radhakrishnan, Apollo and Sasikala about collusion and medical negligence.

Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, Location Guesser and Mini Crossword.