Justice K. Harilal of the Kerala High Court on Thursday recused himself from hearing a petition against the Thrissur Vigilance Court order dismissing a plea for a Vigilance probe into the allegations against Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Congress Ministers, and MLAs in connection with the solar scam and their alleged links with the accused Saritha S. Nair and Biju Radhakrishnan.
Mr. Justice Harilal ordered that it be posted before another judge when the petition by George Vattukulam, president, Kerala Malayala Vedi (Forum), was taken up for hearing.
The petitioner alleged that Saritha and Biju had collected huge money promising to install solar panels and making customers believe that it was a project of the governments at the Centre and in the State.
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Besides the Chief Minister, allegations of corruption had been raised against the Home Minister; Ministers A.P. Anil Kumar, Adoor Prakash, Shibu Baby John, and K.C. Joseph; Benny Behnan and Hiby Eden, MLAs; and former Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar.
The Vigilance court had dismissed the petition saying that it was filed to tarnish the image of the Ministers and MLAs.
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Meanwhile, another petition was filed in the court seeking an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the allegations levelled against the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) and other Ministers in connection with the solar case. The petitioner alleged that the investigation conducted by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) into a complaint of Sreedharan Nair had not been proper. The government had handpicked officers amenable to the ruling United Democratic Front for constituting the SIT.
He alleged that no scientific investigation had been conducted by the SIT by involving C-DIT or using the services of the Forensic Science Laboratory. The petitioner pointed out that even the allegation of Mr. Nair that he had visited the CMO along with Saritha and that he had invested in the solar company on the basis of an assurance from the CMO had not been investigated.