The Kerala government has decided to initiate a probe against the former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) in the solar scam in the wake of the findings of the Sivarajan Commission.
“The Commission had directly blamed the former Chief Minister, his office and said that the former staff Tenny Joppen, Jikkumon Jacob, gunman Salim Raj, and Delhi-based friend Kuruvila helped the prime accused Saritha S. Nair and Biju Radhakrishnan and their company Team Solar to cheat the clients,” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters here on Wednesday after a Cabinet meeting.
The decision to have VACB inquiry and to register a criminal case were taken by the Cabinet on the basis of the legal opinion given by the Advocate General and the Director of Prosecutions on the observations and recommendations of the Sivarajan Commission, Mr. Vijayan said.
An inquiry by a special investigation team (SIT) headed by Rajesh Diwan, ADGP, North Zone, has been ordered against former Home and Vigilance Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan as it was found by the Commission that he helped the former Chief Minister escape the case.
A criminal case will be registered against former Electricity Minister Aryadan Mohammed for having helped Mr. Chandy and Team Solar. Inquiry by the SIT has also been ordered against former Congress legislators Thampanoor Ravi and Benny Behanan as the Commission had found that they had helped Mr. Chandy and Team Solar.
The special investigation team that probed the cases tried to help the former Chief Minister, Ministers, MLAs, others and the accused by not properly examining the documents, the Chief Minister said. The head of the SIT that initially probed the solar scam, A. Hemachandran, presently heading the Crime Branch; and K. Padmakumar, presently Director of the Kerala Police Academy, had been shifted from the police department. The new SIT will also probe the allegations of sexual abuse raised by Ms. Saritha in her July 19, 2013 letter.
The Cabinet also decided to initiate departmental action and register criminal case and VACB inquiry against secretary of the Kerala Police Association G.R. Ajith, as the commission had found that he had accepted 20 lakh from Team Solar as bribe.
A judicial Commission, headed by former High Court judge C.N. Ramachandran Nair, was set up to look into the changes suggested by the Sivarajan Commission in the police and jail department. The Commission was asked to submit a report in six months.