Law Minister C.Ve. Shanmugam has called for an independent investigation into the cause of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s death.
Speaking to reporters here on Monday, Mr. Shanmugam said nobody was permitted to see her during her hospitalisation for 75 days.
He demanded that a case be registered under Section 174 of the CrPC and wanted all those responsible for Jayalalithaa’s ‘sufferings’ to be taken into police custody.
He said it was highly suspicious that ₹1.17 crore was spent on the dietary requirements of Jayalalithaa. “Normally, when a patient is admitted to hospital, an attender would be permitted to stay with the patient. But in the case of the former Chief Minister, the entire hospital was converted into a guest house to accommodate members of one family,” he said.
The Law Minister wondered why the former Chief Minister was not taken abroad for treatment.
He said it was wrong on the part of the former Chief Secretary, Rama Mohana Rao, to say that the Cabinet had decided not to take Jayalalithaa abroad for specialised treatment. “I am also a Minister, and no Cabinet meeting was held during the entire period of the former Chief Minister’s hospitalisation,” he said.
