Former Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac asked Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to release video footage from closed-circuit televisions installed in the corridor and lift outside Mr. Chandy’s office. The CCTVs were maintained by Keltron and the agency would have records of the footage captured on July 9, 2012, when the Chief Minister met Sreedharan Nair, Dr. Isaac said.
Mr. Nair alleged that he had met Mr. Chandy along with solar scam accused Sarita S. Nair. He said Ms. Nair had introduced him to Chandy and that she handed over a donation to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund during the meeting. He also said the Chief Minister had stressed the need to take up solar power projects to tide over the energy crisis.
The allegations came after Mr. Chandy had earlier said that he had no direct links with the solar scam and accused Sarita S. Nair.
In response to the allegations, Mr. Chandy admitted to meeting Sreedharan Nair twice, but not the accused Sarita Nair. The Chief Minister said Mr. Nair had been part of a delegation of crushers who were representing quarry owners. They had not discussed anything about solar projects, Mr. Chandy said.
The Opposition asked Mr. Chandy to release footage from the camera installed in his office.
The webcam in the Chief Minister’s office had been installed with much fanfare and was seen as Mr. Chandy’s attempt to bring in greater transparency. Oommen Chandy warded off the Opposition’s demands saying the webcam in his office could only stream video live and did not record and store footage. Dr. Isaac said the CCTV footage from outside Mr. Chandy’s office would clearly prove or disprove his stand. It would show whether Mr. Nair had been accompanied by only quarry owners or whether Sarita Nair had also been present. In November last year, video footage from the Chief Minister’s office complex was used to prove that two members of his staff had accepted bribes.
