Apollo Hospital bill shows Jayalalithaa’s stay cost Rs 6.86 crore, payment of Rs 44 lakh still due
A bill summary submitted by the hospital to the inquiry commission showed that Rs 2 crore was spent on rooms and food for others.
![Apollo Hospital bill shows Jayalalithaa’s stay cost Rs 6.86 crore, payment of Rs 44 lakh still due](https://sc0.blr1.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/article/46898-dpdafkwkok-1481096232.jpg)
Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s treatment at Apollo Hospital in Chennai cost Rs 6.86 crore, of which payment of Rs 44 lakh is still due, according to a document submitted by the hospital to an inquiry commission, reported The News Minute on Tuesday.
An inquiry commission led by Justice A Arumughaswamy, a retired Madras High Court judge, is investigating the circumstances around Jayalalithaa’s death at the hospital in December 2016. The panel is expected to submit its report on February 24. Jayalalithaa had died of cardiac arrest two and a half months after being admitted to the hospital with severe dehydration.
According to a bill summary submitted by the hospital, Jayalalithaa’s party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam settled Rs 6 crore of the bill in June 2017. Another payment of Rs 41 lakh was made on October 13, 2016, but the source of payment is not mentioned.
The bill summary shows that almost Rs 2 crore was not spent directly on the former chief minister’s treatment. The rent of rooms cost nearly Rs 1.24 crore, as rooms were booked for party leaders, those attending to Jayalalithaa, and government staff. The cost of food and beverages was Rs 1.17 crore, which included food provided to police personnel, attenders, government staff and media personnel.
Apollo Hospital counsel Maimoona Badsha told PTI that the bill was submitted to the commission on November 27. “We are surprised and shocked that a confidential document is out in the open,” Badsha said.
The hospital had previously told the commission that CCTV cameras in its corridors were switched off during Jayalalithaa’s movements inside the premises on the police’s instructions.