Former Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan will be summoned to appear before Justice Aruna Jegadeesan Commission probing police firing in the anti-Sterlite protest during its 36th sitting to commence on February 14.
Speaking to reporters here on Saturday after the end of the Commission’s 35th sitting, its advocate Arul Vadivel Sekar said senior police officers including then Superintendent of Police Mahendran, who was heading the police force in the district when the firing took place, former DIG Kapil Kumar Saratkar and former IG, South Zone Shailesh Kumar Yadav appeared before the Commission to record their statements.
Though former Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan had been summoned to appear before the Commission during its 35th sitting, she could not do so due to unavoidable circumstances. Hence, she had informed the Commission that she would appear during its 36th sitting.Accepting it, the Commission would summon her again asking Ms. Girija to appear before it during the 36th sitting to be held between February 14 and 18.
“Apart from the then Chief Secretary, the then Director General of Police T.K. Rajendran and the then Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Vijayakumar will also be summoned to appear before the Commission during the 36th sitting, which may be the last sitting before submitting its report,” said Mr. Arul Vadivel Sekar.
When asked if then Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami would be summoned, he said there was no need for the Commission as of now to summon him as he was the Chief Minister when the police firing took place.
After the end of the 36th sitting, the statements of the witnesses and the exhibits will be compiled. So far, 1,042 of the 1,421 witnesses summoned have recorded their statements and 1,516 exhibits marked.