Slanted report on Jaya’s death does little for justice
The Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry that probed the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa appears to have gone on a fishing expedition, looking for a conspiracy in the line of her medical treatment. However, major interventions were decided through consensus. In the process, it tries to smear the reputation of highly regarded medical practitioners though it has no professional competence to do so.
The panel’s report tabled in the Tamil Nadu Assembly recently indicted Jaya’s then aide V K Sasikala while recommending a probe against the then state health minister C Vijayabaskar, a couple of IAS officers and a few doctors. Jaya was declared dead on December 5, 2016, after 75 days of intensive treatment as an in-patient at Apollo Hospitals in Chennai. During her stay at the hospital, specialists from AIIMS, Delhi and a battery of international experts were consulted.
Apart from chronic diabetes, pneumonia and obesity, she had cardiac issues that led to fluid in her lungs. The question of whether or not she required a coronary angiogram, as some vegetation was noticed in her heart scan, drew varied opinions from consultants. The team of doctors treating her took a holistic view through mutual consultation and decided to put it off.
The commission went after them for the deferment though renowned British interventionist Dr Richard Beale concurred on postponing the elective angio/surgery. However, curiously, the commission wondered why Jaya has not shifted abroad, citing the same Dr Beale it had joined issue with on the angio issue; he had proposed to fly her out for treatment. Apparently, the commission was trying to peddle its plot theory though the patient had specifically decided not to leave India. Selective picking of material to build a narrative does not serve the purpose of justice.
Also, shockingly, the commission brushed aside the opinion of a committee of AIIMS experts constituted by the Supreme Court to examine the treatment record, since the Arumughaswamy panel did not have the domain expertise to judge it. Yet, the panel judged the AIIMS committee’s report that found everything was in order, and dumped it.
Sadly, it was not Sherlock Holmes at work. It was instead a hit job with a predetermined conclusion, fleshed out through depositions, documents and erroneous interpretations running into 480 pages put together over five years. The Stalin government ought to bring closure to the matter by sending the slanted report to the dustbin of history.