Minister refutes doctor’s claim on meeting Jaya in hospital

Nilofar Kafeel said that she did not meet the former chief minister during her 75-day stay at Apollo Hospitals. She said that she is willing to provide a statement to Justice A Arumughasamy Commission probing the death of Jayalalithaa stating that the claim made by Dr Sivakumar is false. Dr Sivakumar was the personal physician of Jayalalithaa.

In his deposition on May 2, he is alleged to have informed the Commission that no minister other than Nilofar Kafeel had met Jayalalithaa up close during her stay in the hospital.

Jayalalithaa spent 75 days at the hospital following her admission on September 22, 2016, after taking ill at her residence in Poes Garden. She passed away on December 5, 2016.

After prolonged furore surrounding the secrecy with which her hospitalisation was treated, the government formed the one-man enquiry commission to look into the facts of the matter.

The enquiry commission was instituted on September 24, 2017 and was originally due to submit its final report on December 24, 2017. Since then, extensions have been sought twice with the possibility of the probe continuing until the end of this year.

Over 50 individuals have deposed before the commission thus far and cross-examination by VK Sasikala’s counsel Raja Senthoor Pandian is also underway simultaneously.