Saritha asked to give plaint in writing

The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court (Economic Offences) here on Friday directed Saritha S. Nair, accused in the solar scam, to give her complaints in writing to the superintendent of the prison at Attakulangara where she is lodged.

The superintendent has been directed to inform Saritha “that she may prepare her complaint, if any, in writing. Whenever such complaint is prepared, the superintendent of the said jail will forward the same to the court having jurisdiction over the matter,” the court said.

The court passed the order while considering a petition filed by Fenny Balakrishnan, counsel for Saritha, in which Mr. Balakrishnan sought permission to record Saritha’s statement. Saritha was brought to the court on July 20 when she told the court that she wished to give a complaint in-camera before the Magistrate. Mr. Balakrishnan told the media that Saritha would reveal the names of Cabinet Ministers involved in the scam. He also said Saritha wanted to speak to the court as the police had not taken cognizance of the complaints she made.

The court, in its order on Friday, sought to address media reports that it had recorded Saritha’s statement.

“Rumours have spread that the court had recorded the statements of the accused on the facts of the case and she had revealed the names of Cabinet Ministers in the State and the court had further prohibited dissemination of said facts.” The reports presented to the media and the public about what happened in the court on July 20 was “a bundle of lies,” Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate N.V. Raju said in the order. He said Saritha was not permitted to speak about the facts of the case.

She was informed that she could file her complaint in writing and was remanded in judicial custody.

The court said the reports and “false propaganda” indicated a grand design to implicate members of the government and “to impose upon the court or attribute to court what it has not done.”

Considering these events, the court denied Mr. Balakrishnan’s petition seeking to record Saritha’s statement to ensure that the “script of somebody else is not imposed” on Saritha. The accused is educated and could write any complaint regarding offences committed against her on her own, the court said.