Chandy asks Kerala CM for solar scam probe report

Former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy has sought a copy of the report submitted by the Justice (Retd) G Sivarajan Commission, which probed the multi-crore solar scam.

The CPM-led government has initiated a vigilance and criminal investigation against Chandy and other top Congress leaders based on the findings of the commission. Chandy had earlier sought, under the RTI Act, copies of the report and details of the counsel received by the government from the advocate general and director general of prosecution.

Chandy wrote to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan after Law Minister A K Balan said the government would not hand over a copy of the report.

"The government has decided to initiate criminal proceedings against me without publishing the report or its excerpts. This is a unilateral decision, which denies me my rights as a citizen," Chandy said.

Can't make it public: CM 
The chief minister, in an interview to a national news agency, has rejected demands to make the commission's report public. He said the commission's findings and an action taken report on the same would be tabled in the Legislative Assembly.

Last week, the government ordered a Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau investigation and criminal cases, under a newly constituted special investigation team, against Chandy and two former Congress ministers and other party leaders.

The scam pertains to charges that the two prime accused – Biju Radhakrishnan and his former partner Saritha S Nair – cheated investors, luring them into non-existent solar energy projects citing contacts in the office of the then chief minister, Chandy.

While the government is set to register a vigilance case against Chandy for having accepted bribes "directly and through others", the Congress has alleged political vendetta.