The Madras High Court on Monday rejected the petition of the Apollo hospital seeking stay on the Arumughaswamy Commission that probed the death of former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa.

The court has fixed the next hearing for Friday, February 15. The hospital had claimed that the probe panel is prejudiced and the hospital will be subjected to grave hardship and irreparable harm if the proceedings are not stayed.

The panel was constituted in 2017 to probe into circumstances that led to death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, from inquiring into the correctness, adequacy or inadequacy of medical treatment provided to her at the hospital in Chennai before her death on December 5, 2016.

Levelling a series of allegations against the Arumugam Swamy commission, Apollo has said that the commission has concluded prematurely that the hospital is at wrong.

The hospital has also accused the probe panel of acting beyond its jurisdiction and has filed a writ petition urging the High Court to appoint an independent medical board comprising specialist doctors not associated with the State government to probe issues pertaining to treatment provided to Jayalalithaa if the court thought that the terms of reference of the Commission of Inquiry would necessitate a probe into the treatment provided to her.

The hospital had earlier urged the commission to set up a medical board to look into the treatment which was given to Jayalalithaa but the request was denied by the commission.

Last year in December, the Apollo Hospitals had petitioned the commission to bring 21 specialists on board and set up a medical board to examine the medical records related to the hospitalization of Jayalalithaa.

AIADMK leader and Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospital in Chennai in September 2016 due to critical health issues. She remained in the hospital for 75 days before she passed away.

—India Legal Bureau