“If the Commission of Inquiry’s report on the hospitalisation and death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa is published, both Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam will have to spend time in jail. This is why the Commission is repeatedly being given extensions,” DMK president M.K. Stalin alleged on Wednesday.
Speaking at an event in Ranipet, Mr. Stalin said the Justice Arumughaswamy Commission, which was supposed to have completed the inquiry in three months, had now been given a four-month extension — the seventh overall.
“It has been three years since the Commission was formed. It was supposed to submit the report by the time of Jayalalithaa’s birth anniversary (February 24) this year, but has been given another extension,” he said.
Mr. Stalin said that when the DMK comes to power, Mr. Panneerselvam and Mr. Palaniswami would have to face justice in the case. “They can escape now, but we will definitely catch them once we come to power. Even Duraimurugan (DMK treasurer) may have a soft heart But I won’t leave them. When Jayalalithaa was CM, she died under mysterious circumstances, and the current government is functioning under that shadow. They are not bothered about the people,” Mr. Stalin said.
He said the DMK and its allies were protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act as they were fighting for everyone, including the Chief Minister. When a group of eminent persons met the CM to express their concerns about the Act, Mr. Palaniswami reportedly told them that he too did not know of his place of birth and did not have documents for the same, Mr. Stalin claimed.
“So, we are fighting for everyone, including the Chief Minister,” he said, blaming the AIADMK for the protests across the country as it was on the back of its support that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed in Parliament.
