The Commission of Inquiry looking into former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s death has asked Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam to reschedule his Thursday appearance before it in response to a summons.
Sources said the decision was necessitated by Health Minister C. Vijaya Baskar’s absence before it on Tuesday. Mr. Baskar, examined by CBI officials on Saturday and Sunday in relation to the gutkha scam, told the Commission that personal reasons had forced him to miss the appointment.
Sources said the Commission prefers to examine Mr. Vijaya Baskar before Mr. Panneerselvam and that summons would be issued to them accordingly.
C. Ponnaiyan, an organising secretary of the AIADMK, responded to a summons and appeared before the Commission on Tuesday. N. Raja Senthoor Pandian, the lawyer for V.K. Sasikala, later told journalists that Mr. Ponnaiyan had submitted a 123-page document to the Commission. The document was entirely made up of news reports chronicling allegations surrounding Jayalalithaa’s death. Mr. Pandian said that Mr. Ponnaiyan had continued to call for a CBI inquiry into the former CM’s death. The AIADMK leader said that the CBI had the technical knowhow to probe into various allegations; he said that this inquiry could take place alongside the Commission's fact-finding exercise.
Mr. Pandian said that he had challenged Mr. Ponnaiyan about various allegations he made regarding the CM’s hospitalisation. The AIADMK leader said that he did not recall saying — at an event in Kancheepuram to mark former CM M.G. Ramachandran’s birthday — that Jayalalthaa’s leg had been amputated so that her toe prints could be used to open a locker.
Mr. Ponnaiyan reportedly told the Commission that the allegations he made were mere reproductions of claims made on social media; he had never attempted to verify them himself.
Mr. Pandian said that at one point during his cross-examination, he had relied on former CM M. Karunanidhi’s Nenjukku Neethi book series. He had quoted from the fourth volume’s page 579 to say that Mr. Ponnaiyan had made some adverse about Jayalalithaa; Mr. Ponnaiyan responded by denying those claims and calling Mr. Karunanidhi a [Joseph] “Goebbels who lies”.
Mr. Pandian also said that he had asked Mr. Ponnaiyan if he had remained loyal to V.K. Sasikala despite being removed as an AIADMK organising secretary by Jayalalithaa. Sasikala’s lawyer suggested that, post-Jayalalithaa’s death and Mr. Panneerselvam’s resignation as Chief Minister, Mr. Ponnaiyan had asked his client to elevate him to the position of the party’s treasurer. When Sasikala asked him to be patient, Mr. Ponnaiyan left Sasikala’s camp to join Mr. Panneerselvam. Mr. Ponnaiyan responded by denying those allegations.
Later, interacting with reporters, Mr. Ponnaiyan refused to divulge the details of his testimony: he said that the Commission’s proceedings were privileged and that as a former law minister of “13-14” years, it would not be appropriate of him to comment.
