Court initiates suo motu case against A K Saseendran

The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court here on Monday initiated a suo motu case against former transport minister A K Saseendran in connection with alleged misconduct with a woman.

Saseendran, a senior Nationalist Congress Party leader, had resigned on March 26, following allegations of misconduct with an unidentified woman during a telephonic conversation. The audio clip with the conversation was released by a newly-launched television news channel. The audio clip had the former minister speaking in a sexually explicit manner but didn’t have the voice of the woman.

Later, a female employee of the channel had approached the court alleging sexual misconduct against Saseendran. A police investigation against the CEO and employees of the news channel is on.

Responding to the court action, the 71-year-old former minister told reporters that it was a “natural course” of the law and he was ready to face the case. Announcing his resignation, Saseendran had stated that his decision was not an admission of guilt. “I’m doing it to safeguard credentials of the ruling front and government,” he said.