In a major setback to the Congress in Kerala, the LDF government on Wednesday decided to initiate criminal and Vigilance inquiries against former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, two of his Cabinet colleagues, two former legislators, among others in the wake of the findings of the G. Sivarajan Commission that probed the multi-crore solar panel scam.
The one-man commission, appointed by Mr. Chandy in October 2013, in its report to the government on September 26, had “directly blamed” the former Chief Minister; his former personal staff Tenny Joppen, Jikkumon Jacob, and gunman Salim Raj; and Delhi-based friend Thomas Kuruvila for helping prime accused Saritha S. Nair, Biju Radhakrishnan and their company Team Solar to cheat the clients, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters after a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
The government had asked the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by North Zone ADGP Rajesh Diwan to conduct a probe against Mr. Chandy and his personal staff.
The SIT would also probe the role of former Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, who allegedly tried to destroy evidence and influence police personnel to help Mr. Chandy.
An inquiry will also be launched against former Power Minister Aryadan Mohammed, who allegedly helped the solar company. Two former Congress legislators — Benny Behanan and Thamapanoor Ravi — have also been brought under the ambit of the probe as the commission had found that they had helped Mr. Chandy to scuttle the probe.
The decision for a VACB inquiry and to register criminal cases against the accused were taken by the Cabinet on the basis of a legal opinion given by the Advocate General and the Director of Prosecutions, Mr. Vijayan said.
The SIT that had probed the solar scam cases also tried to help the accused by not properly examining the case diary and documents, Mr. Vijayan said.
Head of the SIT that initially probed the case A. Hemachandran, head of the Crime Branch; and K. Padmakumar, Director of Kerala Police Academy; had been shifted from their posts. Cases will be registered against Mr. Hemachandran, Mr. Padmakumar and Dy.SP K. Harikrishnan for destroying evidence. The SIT had been asked to investigate the role of these officers.
The SIT had also been asked to probe the allegations raised by Ms. Saritha in her July 19, 2013, letter and to register criminal case against those mentioned. The commission concluded that they had contacted her and the advocate over telephone and that she was sexually harassed and raped.
The Cabinet also decided to initiate departmental action and to register criminal case and VACB inquiry against former secretary, Kerala Police Association, G.R. Ajith, as he was found to have accepted ₹20 lakh as bribe from Team Solar.
The report would be placed before the Assembly within six months, Mr. Vijayan said.
