The Kerala High Court has sought explanation from NV Raju, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Economic Offences), Kochi for not recording the statement of con woman Saritha S Nair, main perpetrator of the infamous solar scam in which Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is allegedly involved, even after she told him that she had been sexually abused by several men.
Explanation was sought from Judge Raju after he admitted to the Vigilance Registrar of the High Court that he had failed to record the statement of Saritha — prime accused in all the 33 scam-related cases — when she made it to him, which, according to critics, contributed to the derailment of the legal procedure pertaining to the solar scam.
The HC Registrar who held an inquiry based on two complaints with regard to the ACJM’s failure to record Saritha’s statement concluded that there were procedural lapses on the part of the judge in not recording her statement even when she wanted to make a complaint to him. It is up to the Chief Justice to take action on the basis of the Registrar’s report.
As per the report, Judge Raju had admitted that Saritha Nair had complained that she had been sexually misused by several men, which, according to the Opposition, was crucial to the entire solar scam.
The report said that this was a huge failure on the part of the judge, a person vested with immense judicial powers, not to record that complaint as sexual abuse constituted a grave offence which called for registration of a case. According to him, Saritha had even said that she had been raped.
She had also spoken about some financial deals and had mentioned the names of certain persons, the judge told the Registrar but added that he did not take any particular note of this. However, the Registrar’s report has not found any external pressure behind the judge’s failure in recording the con woman’s statement.
The judge had also failed in providing paper and pen to Saritha S Nair, who reached the court as an accused in one of the many cases registered in connection with the solar scam. There were allegations that the judge had avoided recording the statement deliberately. “There was indeed external pressure,” said Government Chief Whip PC George on Tuesday.
The Registrar’s report also said that the judge should not have disallowed Saritha Nair to meet her lawyer Fenni Balakrishnan and directed her to submit her complaint in the form a written statement through the jail authorities. It also said that the judge should have refrained from referring to media reports in his judgement.
In a highly controversial act, Judge NV Raju had on July 20 refused to record the statement of Saritha S Nair under Section 164 of the CrPC when she made it to him in a closed court room. Instead, he asked her to submit her statement in writing through her lawyer.
The lawyer later said that Saritha had given him a 23-page statement in which she had explained the role of several top leaders in the solar scam and how she had been sexually abused. That Saritha had handed over a statement to the lawyer was later confirmed by the jail authorities in Pathanamthitta where she had been lodged.