Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam has been summoned to testify on January 29 before the Justice A. Arumughaswamy (retd.) Commission probing former CM Jayalalithaa’s death.
Mr. Panneerselvam was supposed to testify on Wednesday, but sought a postponement as he would be taking part in the Global Investors’ Meet on that day.
On Tuesday, Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker and AIADMK propaganda secretary M. Thambi Durai testified before the Commission on the treatment given to Jayalalithaa during her hospitalisation.
Counsel for the former CM’s jailed aide V.K. Sasikala, Raja Senthoor Pandian, told reporters that Mr. Thambi Durai, when asked if he had any doubts over the treatment given to Jayalalithaa, said, “There is no doubt about it.”
Mr. Pandian said the AIADMK leader told the Commission that when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu visited Apollo Hospitals to meet Jayalalithaa, he received them, after which they went to Jayalalithaa’s ward. A lot of the cross-questioning dwelt largely on Mr. Thambi Durai’s various political statements and stands taken in favour of and against Sasikala and Panneerselvam.