In a relief for Kerala’s Congress-led ruling UDF ahead of the May 16 Assembly election, the High Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by Saritha S Nair, prime accused in the infamous solar scam, seeking a CBI probe into the alleged role of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in one of the scam-related cases. The court dismissed the plea by airing suspicions over the petitioner’s credibility and observing that it was politically motivated.
The court’s decision and its observations against Saritha Nair came as a big relief personally and politically for Chandy, who was the other day accused of sexually abusing her at his official residence in Thiruvananthapuram as per a letter she herself had reportedly written while in police custody in July, 2013.
While considering Saritha’s petition seeking a CBI probe over one of the 33 solar scam-related cases involving her and Mallelil Sreedharan Nair, a businessman who had invested money in her solar power venture allegedly on the basis of Chandy’s advice, Justice B Kemal Pasha of the High Court said she as prime accused in the case could not make such a request.
In the petition, Saritha had pointed out that the role allegedly played by the Chief Minister in encouraging Nair to invest in her solar power business and her to go ahead with the business had not been investigated by a special investigation team constituted by the Government. It was in this context that she had sought a probe at a higher level against the Chief Minister.
Saritha had sought an order for a CBI probe on the basis of the evidences she had submitted before the judicial panel looking into the scam. Pointing out that Sreedharan Nair, the de facto complainant in the scam-related case, had not requested for an investigation, Justice Pasha asked how Saritha Nair, accused in the case, could seek a probe on his behalf.
Observing that Saritha herself lacked credibility as she was an accused in 33 fraud cases pertaining to the duping of members of the public of several crores of rupees, the judge said her plea against the Chief Minister was politically motivated. Justice Pasha said he could not allow the courtroom to be turned into a poll-time political play ground.
Dismissing the petition as devoid of merits, the judge said Saritha could raise her contentions about the allegedly improper nature of the probe in the trial court. Her counsel said she was willing to produce evidences to back her claims before the court, but the judge refused to entertain the argument.
The rejection of the con woman’s plea for CBI probe and the sharp criticisms the court leveled against her are sure to be used by Chandy and his supporters to strengthen their defences against the allegation contained in the letter Saritha that he had sexually abused her.
Stating that he was examining the option of initiating legal action against Saritha, Chandy said on Monday, “There are big financial forces behind these allegations. It is part of a conspiracy to upset the prospects of the UDF in the Assembly election.”
However, Monday saw the appearance of telephone call data records (CDRs) in the media suggesting that Saritha could have had close connections with the Chief Minister, his personal staff, Cabinet members and senior Congress leaders. As per the CDRs, Saritha had made called into Chandy’s official number after she was released on bail last year.
The CDRs released by the media on Monday also showed that 37 phone conversations had taken place between her and Chandy’s political secretary. As many as 541 phone conversations had taken place between her and State Congress general secretary Thampanoor Ravi, a close aide of Chandy, reports said.
Meanwhile, Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan on Monday asked the Congress high command to keep Chandy and the other party leaders against whom charges of immorality had been leveled away from contesting in the upcoming Assembly election. “A detailed probe should be held to bring Chandy and other tainted men to book,” Achuthanandan said.