HC refuses to vacate stay on panel report

Madurai: Madras high court on Wednesday refused to vacate the stay on operation of the Justice A Arumughaswamy commission’s report insofar as observations, remarks and recommendations to conduct inquiry against former health minister C Vijayabaskar.On Wednesday, the state made a mention before Justice G R Swaminathan seeking to vacate the stay, but the judge refused to do so. On Tuesday the court granted a big reprieve to Vijayabaskar while hearing a petition filed by him. Vijayabaskar had stated in the petition that the findings and observations made against him in the report were without any legal basis and thus they could not be construed as ‘factual finding’ and ought to be expunged entirely.Justice Arumughaswamy has ticked off four people -- V K Sasikala, her relative Dr K S Sivakumar, former health minister C Vijayabaskar and former health secretary J Radhakrishnan -- for a series of omissions, including failure to allow a ‘lifesaving’ angioplasty for former chief minister J Jayalalithaa. He recommended further probe and action against them.