CHENNAI: Government doctor P. Balaji, who had attested former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s thumb impressions on documents related to polls held during her hospitalisation last year, deposed before the Madras High Court on Friday that the late leader affixed the thumb impressions on her own after the contents were read out to her.
The doctor also said Ms. Jayalalithaa’s friend V.K. Sasikala was by her bedside when he obtained the thumb impressions at 6.30 p.m. on October 27, 2016 and denied the suggestion of having met incumbent Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam or any other Minister on that day.
The submissions were made before Justice P. Velmurugan, who was seized of an election petition preferred by DMK candidate P. Saravanan challenging the victory of AIADMK candidate A.K. Bose in the by-poll held to the Tirupparankundram constituency. The challenge was mainly on the technical ground of validity of the thumb impressions on Form A and B.
The forms were very crucial since they had to be filed by candidates of all recognised parties, along with their nominations, to prove that they were the official candidates of their party.
Assigned to coordinate Answering a volley of questions posed by petitioner’s counsel V. Arun, Dr. Balaji said the former Chief Minister was hospitalised on September 22 and he was assigned by the government, through an order passed by the Health Secretary the very next day, to coordinate and liaise with a team of doctors who treated her.
He also claimed to have gone through letters written by the Election Commission of India to the Chief Electoral Officer and consequent letters written by the latter to the Returning Officers of three constituencies in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry permitting affixing of thumb impressions on the forms along with attestation of a government medical officer.
Asked by counsel if there was any video, audio, photographic or other record to prove that he was present at the spot when Ms. Jayalalithaa’s thumb impressions were obtained, the deponent said that he was not in possession of any such record.
Additional formsCuriously, the doctor told the court that two additional Form A papers were there in the bunch of documents on which the thumb impressions of the former Chief Minister were obtained for the polls in the four constituencies and that he had attested those two forms too. He, however, feigned ignorance as to what happened to those two additional forms.
After completion of the examination, Mr. Justice Velmurugan adjourned further hearing on the case to November 3 and directed Dr. Balaji to be present in the court on that day too as senior counsel B. Kumar, representing Mr. Bose, insisted on cross-examining him.The Hindu.

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