The commission investigating former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s death has written to the Karnataka Prison Department seeking permission to question her former aide VK Sasikala, reported Hindustan Times on Friday.
The panel has also written to Tamil Nadu Home Secretary Niranjan Mardi to facilitate the meeting. This is the first time the panel led by retired High Court Justice A Arumughaswamy has made such a request.
Sasikala’s role has come under scrutiny since she spent 75 days with the former chief minister, starting from Jayalalithaa’s hospitalisation on September 22, 2016 till her death on December 5, 2016. Sasikala is currently lodged at the Parapana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru after she was convicted in a disproportionate assets case last year.
According to The Times of India, the commission is also expected to examine Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, Health Minister C Vijayabaskar, Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha M Thambidurai and senior AIADMK leader C Ponniyan.
The commission was set up in August 2017 to investigate the circumstances surrounding Jayalalithaa’s death on December 5, 2016 and the treatment that was provided to her in the weeks leading upto it. In October, it was granted a four-month extension. The panel is expected to submit it is report on February 24.
I-T department, ED also want to question Sasikala
Besides the panel investigating Jayalalithaa’s death, the Income Tax Department and Enforcement Directorate also want to question VK Sasikala, The News Minute reported. The tax department will question her on documents seized during searches in November 2017, while the ED has sought to interrogate her regarding alleged Foreign Exchange Regulation Act violations, reports said.
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