The Justice Arumugasamy commission, tasked with inquiring into the death of late chief minister J Jayalalithaa, on Friday summoned Dr Richard Beale, the UK based doctor who treated  late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister before it. It has also asked deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam, health minister C Vijayabaskar, and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai for appearances.

The probe panel headed by retired Madras High Court judge Arumughaswamy has summoned Panneerselvam to appear before it on January 8 and Vijayabaskar has been summoned for an appearance on January 7.  Dr Beale has been asked by the panel to depose before it on January 9 while Thambidurai has been summoned by the commission on January 11.

The former chief minister J Jayalalithaa was hospitalised in Apollo hospitals on September 22, 2016. After undergoing treatment for 75 days she was declared dead on December 5, 2016. The

The one-man commission probing the death of former CM was appointed in August 2017. It mandate is to inquire into the hospitalisation and subsequent death of Jayal;alitha. It was given a three-month time period to complete its probe, which was extended to six months in December 2017. In June this year, the Commission sought and received another four-month extension just as it was due to submit its report. When the second extension expired on June 24, the Commission was to submit its report on October 24.The latest extension is for another four months. A report may be expected on February 24, co-incidentally on the late CM’s birth anniversary.

With several senior bureaucrats, close aides, household staff from Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden residence and multiple doctors  are mnong the more than 100 witnesses who have appeared nbefore the commission to testify .

–India Legal Bureau