Chief Minister deposes before Solar Inquiry Commission

Thiruvananthapuram:  Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told the judicial commission, enquiring into the solar scam and alleged involvement of the Chief Minister’s office in it, that he might have met one of the accused in the scam Saritha S. Nair thrice before her arrest. But no meeting had taken place in connection her solar business.

The Chief Minister said that Biju Radhakrishnan had met him at guest house in Aluwa after having been introduced by Congress leader M. I. Shanawaz as ‘R. B. Nair who was the CEO a big company’ to discuss a private matter. He did not want to disclose the details as the matter discussed was Biju’s personal affairs.

Saritha Nair might have met him to give a donation of Rs. 1 lakh to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund and to give a memorandum on her business later. However, he remembered about it only when R. B. Nair recalled that during his meeting with him.  When the Commission’s counsel pointed out, showing the acknowledgement issued by the Chief Minister’s private secretary, that the amount was Rs. 2 lakh, Mr. Chandy said he did not know it.

Referring to a photo of Saritha Nair whispering something into his ear at a public function near Pala, the Chief Minister said that he remembered about someone having said something in into his ear at that function. He was not sure whether it was Saritha.

He said that he did not remember to have met Saritha when the company floated by her and Radhakrishnan, Team Solar Renewable Energy Solutions, gave second donation of Rs. 2 lakh to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. He had issued a thanksgiving letter and acknowledgement under his letter head (which the Commission pointed out was used to forge his letter head).  But, the cheque bounced.  

He had not met Mallelil Sreedharan Nair, who was complained of being cheated by Team Solar, with Saritha. Nor had he recommended Team Solar’s project to Mr. Nair. “If I had, shouldn't Nair be approaching me first with his complaint? He had not. That shows I had no involvement.”

He said that one member of his personal staff was found to have connections with Saritha Nair beyond phone calls. The Special Investigation Team appointed by the Government had investigated three in the office regarding the phone calls. Tenny Joppan was charge-sheeted.  However, he did think that his office was misused.

Mr. Chandy said that the government had not suffered any loss on account of solar scam. When the Commission’s advocate pointed out that Anert had kept applications for subsidy by Team Solar for one year without rejecting them outright for want of empanelled status and had provided subsidised products to them which they resold without subsidy, the Chief Minster said that those could not be considered as a loss to government.

He said that government encouraged installation of solar power units and had also drawn up a policy for its promotion. But no orders had been issued making solar power generation mandatory for buildings exceeding 2500 square feet or more.

The Chief Minister said that he had not met Saritha Nair at Vignan Bhavan in Delhi as alleged. She might not even have been there as security was strict there.

In an affidavit, the Chief Minister said that he had not come to know of swindling by Biju Radhakrishnan or Saritha Nair or their company before the allegations surfaced.  He had not received any official reports or special branch reports about that.

He said that personal staff of his office against whom action was taken did not show due diligence.  The Opposition was trying to tarnish his image without producing any evidence against him.  The Special Investigation Team completed investigation in a short time and filed 33 cases related to the scam. Action had also been taken in ten cases relating to the period under LDF rule. The Commission observed that the team did not go into matters of larger public interest such as links of the accused with higher-ups in government.

The cross-examination of the Chief Minister by counsels of parties to the inquiry was continuing late into the evening. It was the first time that a chief minister of the State appeared before an inquiry commission probing a scam.

Meanwhile, the High Court on Monday stayed the directive of the Commission to Saritha S. Nair to produce the letter written by her from jail. She maintained that it is confidential communication to her counsel.

Update: The cross examination of the Chief Minister which began in the afternoon after lunch break continued well past midnight. Mr. Chandy in reply to a question from the counsel of Biju Radhakrishnan that he was not willing to undergo a lie detector test regarding allegations related to the scam. He also said that Thomas Kuruvila and his son had no business relationships.

He later told the media that there was political conspiracy behind the allegations. He was not convinced of the need to undergo a lie detector test in the case.