Jaya probe panel summons Dhivaharan

The Justice Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry on Monday issued summons to V. K. Dhivaharan, brother of V. K. Sasikala, the jailed aide of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, asking him to appear before it on May 3. Dr. K.S. Sivakumar, a relative of Sasikala who coordinated Jayalalithaa’s treatment, has been asked to return for another examination on May 2. The State government has also accepted the Commission’s request for the formation of a team to examine various documents related to the treatment of Jayalalithaa. As part of this a four-member team will be formed.

Meanwhile, Sasikala’s lawyers cross-examined her assistant Karthikeyan during which he was asked about certain disciplinary actions taken against Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam’s son O.P. Ravindanath Kumar, Rajya Sabha MPs V. Maitreyan and K.P. Munusamy, Mylapore MLA R. Nataraj and former minister ‘Natham’ R. Viswanathan, during 2014-16 by the then party leader, Jayalalithaa. Sasikala’s counsel N. Raja Senthoor Pandian is learnt to have shown the clippings of the Dr. Namadhu MGR, formerly the mouthpiece of the AIADMK, which carried reports about the disciplinary action taken.

Mr. Pandian also said that he had protested that the Commission was not providing his team with the transcripts of the cross-examination, including those of former Chief Secretary P. Rama Mohana Rao, Vivek Jayaraman and J. Krishnapriya, and Dr. P. Balaji and Dr. Sudha Seshayyan.