The deposition made by con woman Saritha S Nair, prime accused in the infamous solar scam, secretly in a Kochi court the other day has added to the anxieties of Kerala’s Congress and the ruling UDF it leads, which are already beleaguered by allegations of involvement of its leaders including Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in the scam.
In her deposition before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Economic Offences) in Kochi on Saturday, Saritha is said to have disclosed that she had been running her fraudulent solar power business with the help of certain Congress Ministers at the Centre and in the State. She has also reportedly disclosed the names of certain MlAs of the Congress-led UDF and others.
Indications are that the con woman has told the Magistrate that she had been part of a caucus constituted by these Ministers and MlAs but they had been using her for their advantages. Saritha’s lawyer Fenni Balakrishnan, who was present during her deposition, had said that several things she had revealed had shocked the judge.
Saritha had told the court that she had to admit these things to the special police team probing the solar scam but the officials had failed to record her statements. As the secrets she had been keeping to herself had now been out, she felt there was threat to her life and that was the reason why she opted to go for deposition, according to reports.
She is also said to have told the judge that it was a powerful person in the office of Chief Minister Chandy who had introduced her to these Ministers and others. It is already known that several of Chandy’s trusted aides had been her accomplices and one of them, Tenny Joppen, is behind the bars as third accused in one of the scam-related cases.
The judge had asked Fenni Balakrishnan not to divulge the contents of Saritha’s deposition. However, he is likely to present the contents of her deposition in the court in the form of an affidavit in the next of couple of days. The Congress and the UDF are anxious that this could hurt them seriously.
Though the Prosecution could argue that depositions of an accused should bear no legal validity, it could have far-reaching implications politically. leaders of certain UDF constituents have already come out with statements that the words of Saritha, a prime accused in the case, have no credibility.
As per the call data records for Saritha’s phone leaked recently to the media allegedly by the Home Department headed by Congress Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan as part of a cold war with Chandy, at least two Union Ministers, seven State Ministers, several UDF MlAs, top Congress leaders including the State party chief and others had been in regular contact with her.
The scam pertains to the cheating of several people of many crores of rupees by Saritha, her ex-husband Biju Radhakrishnan and his girlfriend and actress Shalu Menon promising to install solar power projects and windmills with all normal concessions announced by the Government. The special police team has registered 31 cases in connection with the scandal.
Meanwhile, the special investigation team headed by Additional DGP A Hemachandran is preparing to file chargesheets in five of the 31 scam-related cases it is probing amidst complaints that the investigation has come to a standstill for all practical purposes due to political interference.
Sources said that the chargesheets to be filed would have no reference to the allegedly unholy connections of scam perpetrators Saritha, Biju and Shalu with powerful people. Instead, the documents would confine themselves to aspects relating to the economic offences in the scam as per the instructions received by the police team from the political leadership.