Ex-Chief Secretary cross-examined

Former Chief Secretary P. Rama Mohana Rao said on Saturday that he interacted with the then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa twice on the night she was hospitalised.

While being cross-examined by V.K. Sasikala’s lawyer before the Commission of Inquiry looking into Jayalalithaa’s death, Mr. Rao said the former Chief Minister was conscious on the night of September 22, 2016.

Ms. Sasikala’s lawyer N. Raja Senthoor Pandian examined three other witnesses on Saturday — former adviser to the government Sheela Balakrishnan and cardiologists Muralidharan and Dinesh.

Mr. Rao said Jayalalithaa met him while being taken out of the ICU. When she asked him where she was, he told her that she was in hospital. While being cross-examined, Mr. Rao said that Ministers — O. Panneerselvam and C. Vijaya Bhaskar — then Chennai Commissioner of Police S. George, Sasikala, Jayalalithaa’s two personal security officers and five IAS officers were witness to the interaction.

Later that night, after being shifted to the Multidisciplinary Critical Care Unit, Jayalalithaa summoned Mr. Rao and asked him to inform the public of her health, according to the testimony.

Mr. Pandian later told reporters that the topic of Jayalalithaa being taken abroad for treatment did not make it into the Commission’s records on Saturday. While deposing before the Commission on December 21, 2017, Mr. Rao said that M. Thambi Durai asked him to explore the possibility of taking Jayalalithaa abroad. Mr. Rao said that he discussed the possibility with various Ministers for 4 to 5 consecutive days, but dropped the idea after the Ministers did not revert to him. Mr. Rao said that the discussions took place end October 2016. Mr. Rao also said that on a day between September 22 and 27, 2016, Jayalalithaa spoke to him on the phone. He was in Delhi to discuss the sharing of Cauvery waters. Mr. Rao also said that Jayalalithaa’s PSOs had informed him that from September 24 to 27, the CM met several Ministers. Mr. Rao said when DGP T.K. Rajendran and Mr. George saluted Jayalalithaa on September 27, the former Chief Minister acknowledged it.

Cauvery issue

Mr. Rao also said that he attended the September 27, 2016 meeting on the Cauvery sharing case before the Supreme Court. Jayalalithaa dictated instructions during the 4-6 pm meeting while wiping her face with a handkerchief and had a tube attached to her nose.

“Madam gave instructions to us for two hours on Cauvery. She sat in her bed and told us how to form the Cauvery Management Board. She was conscious and spoke clearly...She lived for Cauvery, she lived for Tamil Nadu. She is living for Tamil Nadu,” Mr. Rao told reporters later.

The former Chief Secretary said that he was part of the briefings by the hospital about Jayalalithaa’s health on December 4 and 5. He also said that the then Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu, five Tamil Nadu Ministers, including Mr. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Sasikala and Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan attended the meeting where the removal of ECMO was decided.