A court in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday exonerated senior NCP leader AK Saseendran in the sensational sex talk case pertaining to a honey-trap sting operation mounted against him by a TV channel which had forced him to resign as Transport Minister ten months ago. He may return to the same position in the CPI(M)-led lDF Cabinet now.
The Chief Judicial Magistrate Court Thiruvananthapuram exonerated Saseendran by accepting the submission of the young woman, an employee of the TV channel who had accused him of making lust-laden remarks to her, that she had no complaints against him.
The court rejected a PIl filed in the name of one Mahalakshmi of Thiruvananthapuram praying not to permit settlement of the case. The complainant had argued that the woman was refusing to reveal the truth about the charge against Saseendran out of fear.
“I am happy about my exoneration, naturally,” said Saseendran after hearing about the court’s decision. About the possibility of his return to the Cabinet, he said, “It is a decision to be taken by my party’s leadership.” NCP’s acting State president TP Peethambaran said, “The party has already made it clear that Saseendran will return to the Cabinet once he is exonerated.”
Saseendran had resigned from the Cabinet on March 26, 2017 hours after the TV channel aired an audio clip in which he was allegedly heard making lust-laden and obscene remarks to a woman. The channel itself later admitted that the audio clip was the product of a honey-trap sting operation it had mounted against him using one of its women employees.
The police had registered cases against several employees of the channel including its chief executive officer for the honey-trap sting operation. However, the woman filed a complaint with the Thiruvananthapuram court saying that Saseendran had outraged her modesty.
with the conversation in which he made lewd comments.
However, she changed her stand later and appealed to the court to let her withdraw the complaint in the form of a statement recorded as per Section 164 of the CrPC on which the court had registered a case suo moto. The woman later approached the High Court with the same plea but the case there was settled a few days ago after she withdrew her petition.
A judicial commission which had looked into the honey-trap sting operation scandal had effectively exonerated Saseendran last November mainly due to its inability to prove that the voice found on the audio clip was that of the NCP leader. Also, the Crime Branch of the Kerala Police which probed the matter had not made Saseendran an accused.
The Kerala NCP had fallen into a deep crisis after charges of land and lake encroachment, illegal land-filling and misuse of public funds were leveled against Thomas Chandy, the only other NCP MlA who replaced Saseendran in the Cabinet on April 1 last. Chandy was forced to resign from the Cabinet on November 15.
Saseendran’s exoneration on Saturday came also as a big relief not only for him but also for the entire NCP, which had allegedly launched an effort to rope in an MlA belonging to another party to become Minister for its sake. The NCP had become a party with no minister anywhere in India after the resignation of Thomas Chandy.
lDF sources indicated that Saseendran might be returning to the Cabinet soon. Marxist Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan reportedly talked to Saseendran over the phone on Saturday even as Kanam Rajendran, State secretary of the CPI(M) said his party had no objection to his return to the Cabinet.