The Kerala High Court on Friday observed that cheating cases against Saritha S. Nair and Biju Radhakrishnan, two accused in the Solar Panel scam, cannot be quashed merely because they had paid back some of the amounts to those whom they had cheated.
The observation was made by Justice Harun Al Rashid while considering petitions filed by the two accused, seeking to quash the cases against them in the scam. They contended that they were settling the matter out of court.
Earlier, they had approached the court to quash cases registered against them by Ernakulam Town police station on the ground that amounts payable to the victims have been settled out of court.
A fraudulent solar energy company — Team Solar — had been floated by the two accused, who had allegedly collected huge amounts from investors, promising to make them business partners or offering to install alternate sources of energy and failed to deliver the goods.
They were arrested this year and are currently in jail.
The case took a political turn after the names of some personal staff of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy cropped up following which the opposition LDF has been demanding Mr. Chandy’s resignation.
