HC orders Apollo hospitals to inform it of Jayalalithaa's biological samples

The Madras High Court today directed the Apollo Hospitals here to inform it by tomorrow whether it had preserved the biological samples of J Jayalalithaa collected during her hospitalisation in 2016.

Justice S Vaidyanathan gave the direction on a petition by a woman, who claimed herself to be the biological daughter of Jayalalithaa.

On February 23, the judge had issued notice to Apollo Hospitals on a sub-application by the woman, who sought a direction for a DNA test to establish her parentage.

The woman had claimed she had been given in adoption to Jayalalithaa's sister and her husband decades ago and she came to know about it from her foster father in March last year before he died.

The judge directed the hospitals to file the reply tomorrow and posted the matter for further hearing to June 4.

Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital on September 22, 2016 following complaints of fever and dehydration, but developed complications later. She died on December 5 that year.

During the hearing today, the counsel representing Deepak and Deepa, children of Jayalalithaa's late brother J Jayaraman, submitted that the petitioner has to approach only the civil court as she had not furnished any proof in support of her claim.