Spl session of Kerala Assembly on Nov 9 to discuss solar scam report

The Kerala Cabinet on Thursday decided to convene a special session of the Legislative Assembly, on November 9, to discuss findings of a report by the Justice G Sivarajan Commission, which probed the multi-crore solar scam.

Acting on the report, the CPM-led government has announced separate probes by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau and a police Special Investigation Team (SIT), against top Congress leaders including former chief minister Oommen Chandy. The Cabinet will recommend to the Governor to convene the special one-day session of the Assembly.

Chandy and the Congress leadership had countered the probes, alleging political vendetta and questioned the government’s “reluctance” in making the report public.

Chandy’s request under the RTI Act, for a copy of the report, was turned down. The government maintained that the report would not be made public before it was tabled in the Assembly.

The government will seek the counsel of Justice Arijit Pasayat, former Supreme Court judge and former Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, regarding follow-up action on the report, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said. Vijayan had, on October 11, announced investigation against Chandy, two former Congress ministers – Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and Aryadan Muhammad – and other leaders based on the counsel from the Advocate General and Director General of Prosecution.

The scam pertains to Team Solar, a fraudulent company floated by Biju Radhakrishnan and his former partner Saritha S Nair. They were arrested in 2013 after they cheated investors into committing on non-existent solar energy projects, citing contacts with the then chief minister Chandy and other senior leaders.

On Thursday, the key suspect in the scam, Saritha, wrote to the chief minister, pointing out lapses in police investigation under the previous Congress-led government.

The new SIT is set to take over a crime branch probe on Saritha’s allegations that Congress leaders. including Chandy, sexually abused her as detailed in her letter dated July 19, 2013. In her petition to the chief minister, she said police refused to follow up on her complaints about the abuse and instead, targeted her in cases related to the scam.