Former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa was advised to rest by a doctor at Apollo Hospitals a day before her swearing-in ceremony in 2016, but she had countered that it was not possible as she had to work 16 hours in a day, the doctor submitted before the one man Commission inquiring the circumstances leading to her death. The Justice Arumughaswamy Commission resumed hearing after three years (following a Supreme Court order).
Deposing before the Commission and the AIIMS Medical Board, which joined the inquiry via video conferencing, Dr. Babu Manohar said the former Chief Minister had complained of giddiness and being unable to walk without support. He met Jayalalithaa at her Poes Garden residence a day before her swearing-in ceremony after being called by her physician Dr. Sivakumar.
Dr. Manohar told the panel that apart from prescribing some medicines, he had advised her to do certain exercises and rest in either Siruthavoor or Udhagamandalam for a few days. But, Jayalalithaa refused to do so, insisting that she had to work 16 hours a day, he said.
He informed the Commission that the tracheostomy procedure on the late Chief Minister was done on the advice of the AIIMS panel of doctors.
Another doctor, Dr. Arul Selvam said he had earlier visited Jayalalilthaa thrice at her residence before she was hospitalised. He said she had told him that she was under a lot of stress. He was asked by the medical board to give feedback on her clinical condition on December 5, 2016, based on Apollo Hospitals’ clinical findings and medical records on her condition.
When counsel for V.K. Sasikala, Jayalalithaa’s confidant, Raja Senthoor Pandian sought to know if the former Chief Minister told him the reason for her stress, Dr. Selvam said neither did he ask her nor did she explain it to him. He had also prescribed some medicines and exercises. A senior technician at Apollo Hospitals, Kamesh, also deposed on Monday.
