Court asks Apollo to provide Jayalalithaa’s blood samples
THE COURT DIRECTIVE IS BEING CONSIDERED AS A PRECURSOR TO A DNA TEST, WHICH COULD ESTABLISH THE PETITIONER’S PARENTAGE
Acting on the petition of a woman who claimed to be J Jayalalithaa’s daughter, Madras high court on Friday directed the Apollo Hospital to provide the late Tamil Nadu chief minister’s blood samples.
The court directive is being considered as a precursor to a DNA test, which could establish the petitioner’s parentage. Justice S Vaidyanathan directed the Apollo management to reply to court the order by January 5.
The petitioner S Amrutha had first approached the Supreme Court on November 27 seeking a DNA test to prove that she was the late AIADMK leader’s daughter. The apex court had rejected her plea and directed her to instead approach the high court. Amrutha moved the high court on Thursday and also urged it to direct the state government to let her cremate Jayalalithaa’s body as per family traditions.
The high court admitted the Bengaluru-based woman’s plea and sent notices to the state government chief secretary and Chennai Corporation.
The court also impleaded J Deepak and his sister J Deepa— the two children of Jayalalithaa’s brother—as respondents in the case.
During Friday’s proceedings, Justice Vaidyanathan wondered why Amrutha was reluctant to name film star Sobhanbabu as her father even though she was willing to publicly claim that Jayalalithaa was her mother. Amrutha’s counsel V Prakash told the court that at this time, his client could only name her mother.
Representing the government, advocate general Vijay Narayanan opposed Amrutha’s petition, calling it a ‘publicity stunt’ and said in order to direct a DNA test, the court first needed to arrive at a prima facie case.