High drama in Madras court as judge sends Sasikala to hospital

A special court trying corruption cases against former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha Jayaram and her friend Sasikala Natrajan on Thursday ordered that the latter be admitted to hospital and examined by a panel of doctors to find out whether she was capable of following the court proceedings.

Special Judge S Sambandam, who is trying the disproportionate wealth case in which Natrajan is the second accused, issued the order after he failed to get a response from Sasikala, who was brought to the court on a stretcher.

The judge ordered that she be taken to the government general hospital in Madras by her counsel and relatives on July 21 and be examined by the doctors there. He said the hospital's dean could keep her in the hospital for as long as he deemed fit and then submit a report to the court on the medical examination.

Natrajan, who was accompanied by a doctor and a nurse, remained silent when the judge asked her to identify him and state what was going on in the court.

Before talking to her, the judge asked the doctor who accompanied her about her condition. The doctor said she had been bed-ridden for the past month and was undergoing treatment for chest pain for a couple of months.

As the judge pronounced orders that she be taken to the hospital straight from court, hectic efforts were made both by the doctor and her counsel to make her respond to the judge.

Natarajan, who seemed to be unconscious and whose body trembled for a while when the judge tried to speak to her, suddenly started speaking after drinking a glass of water. But the judge was in no mood to listen.

As the judge was about to pass orders that Sasikala be taken to the hospital from the court, Virudhachalam Reddiyar, Jayalalitha's counsel, objected to handing her over to the police.

This amounted to remanding an accused released on bail and imprisoning her, he argued. When the judge suggested that the counsel could also accompany Natrajan, Reddiyar shot back, "Do you think we do not have any other work?"

After Reddiyar argued that Natrajan should be taken to the hospital only by her relatives, the judge modified his order to the effect that she be taken to the hospital on Monday, July 21.

When her counsel contended that Sasikala was only momentarily ill and she need not be sent to the hospital, the judge made it clear that she was not in a position to follow the proceedings and he had no option but to refer her to the doctors.

UNI