Within two days of making a vow on his 90th birthday to continue his fight against corruption and immorality in public life, Kerala Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan on Tuesday approached a Pathanamthitta court over the infamous solar scam in which Chief Minister Oommen Chandy allegedly had personal involvement.
The CPI(M) central committee member, whose 20-year-long legal war had in February, 2011 culminated in the Supreme Court sending former Minister R Balakrishna Pillai to prison for corruption, filed a petition in the First Class Judicial Magistrate Court -2 in Pathanamthitta seeking copies of some of the crucial documents related to the scandal.
Achuthanandan has sought copies of the statement that scam victim Mallelil Sreedharan Nair had given to the court under Section 164 of the CrPC, which had already created a political storm in Kerala, and the first remand report the police had filed against con woman Saritha S Nair, one of the main
perpetrators of the scam. The court has admitted Achuthanandan’s plea.
Though the court had on July 18 dismissed four petitions seeking copies of Sreedharan Nair’s statement on July 18, Achuthanandan pointed out in his petition filed through lawyer Salim Kambissery that the statement under Section 164 was no longer a secret document as per the provisions of the CrPC.
As per reports, Sreedharan Nair had, in this particular statement, accused Chandy of direct involvement in the scam by stating that he had paid the last installment of Rs40 lakh, meant for a solar power project, to Saritha Nair after Chandy personally gave assurances on her business at a meeting with him on July 9, 2012 at the Chief Minister’s office in her presence.
Achuthanandan said in his petition that as a person committed to the fight against corruption, he felt it absolutely necessary to bring out the truth of the scandal as persons like the Chief Minister were allegedly involved in it. Senior lawyers of the Kerala High Court opined that Achuthanandan might get the documents he had asked for.
After cutting the cake on his 90th birthday Sunday, Achuthanandan had vowed to continue his fight against corruption and immorality in public life. He had particularly stated that his war over the solar scam against Chandy, who he believed had played a role in it, would continue till he resigned as Chief Minister.
Meanwhile, the Congress-led UDF Cabinet of Kerala will discuss on Wednesday the issue of getting the services of a sitting judge for probing the solar scam in the context of the rejection for a second time by the Kerala High Court of its request for sparing a judge from the court for the purpose. The Government had announced a judicial probe into the scam on August 13.
The Cabinet would try to get the services of sitting a judge from outside the State or a district judge for the judicial inquiry. As a last resort, it could decide to settle for a retired judge but the CPI(M)-led Opposition lDF has already made it clear that it would not extend any cooperation if the probe is not being held by a sitting judge.
Alleging that the High Court had rejected the Government’s request because it had not told the court that the terms of reference of the proposed judicial commission would include the role of the Chief Minister’s office, Deputy Opposition leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said that the Government should try to get the services of a judge sitting from outside the State.
“This need not impossible,” Kodiyeri, also a member of the CPI(M) Politburo, said on Tuesday, adding that a former lDF Government headed by (late) EK Nayanar had received the services of a sitting judge from the Karnataka High Court to probe the Kalluvathukkal hooch tragedy of October, 2000.