Madurai Bench Stays Use Of Former Minister Vijayabhaskar’s Name In Arumughaswamy Commission Report

The Justice Arumughaswamy Commision’s report, which contained observations, remarks and recommendations to launch an investigation into the former Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar, was put on hold by the Madurai Bnech of Madras High Court on Tuesday (28 February 2023).

The order was issued by Justice G R Swaminathan during the hearing of a petition filed by former minister C Vijayabaskar. The Justice Arumughaswamy commission investigated the circumstances surrounding former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016. The commission submitted its findings in August 2022.

The commission had charged VK Sasikala, her relative Dr. K S Sivakumar, Vijayabhaskar, and former health secretary J Radhakrishnan with a series of omissions, including failing to allow the former chief minister Jayalalithaa a “life-saving” angioplasty.

In his petition, Vijayabhaskar claimed that the commission had gone far beyond the scope of its mandate and had made disparaging remarks about him despite the fact that there was no evidence on record to implicate him.

The AIADMK leader was represented by his counsel Nithyaesh Natraj and with advocates Vaibhav Venkatesh and Anirudh Sriram on record.

As required by the terms of reference, the commission should have investigated the circumstances surrounding the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. According to him, the findings and observations in the report clearly indicate that the commission went off on an entirely different tangent and emphasized conspiracy theories with no basis at all.

The Arumughaswamy Commission that enquired into late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s demise in 2016, is a lesson on how a Commission must not function. The Commune has published a detailed analysis of the Arumughaswamy Commission’s bogus claims without facts, which can be found here.

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