Tamil Nadu govt issues GOs on Jayalalithaa death probe, terms of reference

CHENNAI: The

Tamil Nadu government

on Wednesday released a copy of the government order, defining the terms of reference for the one-man commission led by retired judge of Madras high court Justice A Arumughaswamy probing former chief minister

J Jayalalithaa’s death

. The order said the commission will “inquire into the circumstances and situation leading to Jayalalithaa’s hospitalisation on September 22, 2016 and subsequent treatment provided till her unfortunate demise on December 5, 2016.”

Another order, dated September 25, said the commission will complete its inquiry and submit its report (both English and Tamil) to the government within three months from the date of publication of the order notification in the TN government gazette. The Palaniswami government had, on Monday, made the brief announcement appointing the retired judge to probe Jayalalithaa’s death, without releasing the details of the orders.

The first order, dated September 25, stated that the government had decided “that there should be an independent inquiry into the unfortunate demise” of the former chief minister. It stated that the commission of inquiry will be headed by a retired judge of the Madras high court.

The second order, dated September 27, stipulated the terms of reference for the probe “into the circumstances and situation leading to the hospitalization”.

A month ago, CM Edappadi K Palaniswami had announced that his government would set up an inquiry panel headed by a retired judge to probe the circumstances leading to the demise of Jayalalithaa.