The Kerala High Court on Wednesday unleashed scathing criticisms against Congress Chief Minister Oommen Chandy for inducting people with criminal background into personal staff. The criticisms of the court came when it was considering a case related to the fraudulent land deals of Chandy’s former gunman Salim Raj.
Justice Haroon Al Rashid of the High Court observed that the Chief Minister was keeping silent on allegations against his office. Chandy seemed to be trying to save himself from serious allegations by blaming the media, the judge observed. The Chief Minister was responsible for the occurrences in his office, he said.
The Government lawyer’s submission that the charges against Chandy were allegations raised by the media provoked the judge into making some sharp observations. Citing the case of the arrest of Chandy’s former aide Tenny Joppen in connection with the infamous solar scam, the court pointed out it was the police and not the media who had acted against him.
The judge asked whether the Chief Minister had examined the fact that it was the people who had caught Salim Raj (when he was on an alleged kidnap attempt in Kozhikode district) and handed him over to the police. There should be extra care to induct good persons into personal staff, he said.
The court asked whether the Chief Minister was showing the required moral responsibility in matters related to serious issues. The judge pointed out that India had a history of Railway ministers resigning by owning up the moral responsibility for train accidents. The court’s observations came when it was considering a plea for CBI probe into the land-related cases.
Judge Rashid asked how anybody could expect to get justice when people like Salim Raj were roaming freely. Salim Raj, who was suspended as Chandy’s gunman in the wake of the solar scam in June last, was reinstated in service recently. A probe team had found that Salim Raj had been in constant contact with con woman Saritha S Nair, main perpetrator of the solar scam.