The former chief minister of Kerala and senior Congress leader, Oommen Chandy, is facing fresh troubles as the Kerala Crime Branch police on Saturday registered an FIR against him for allegedly sexually assaulting the solar energy investment fraud accused Saritha Nair. It has been alleged that the former chief minister had assaulted her sexually at Cliff House, the official residence of Chief Minister, in state capital Thiruvananthapuram, in 2013. The Kerala DGP, Loknath Behara told the media that a fresh FIR has been registered against Oommen Chandy and a special team has been formed to investigate the accusations. He said, “now, let the law takes its course.”
The FIR was registered by the crime branch in the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in Thiruvananthapuram. The former chief minister has been accused of sexually assaulting Nair in return for supporting her business in solar energy projects. In her complaint, Saritha Nair has also accused Alappuzha Lok Sabha member, KC Venugopal of sexually assaulting her. Justice G Sivarajan Commission report had in September 2017 found that Oommen Chandy and his personal staff had helped Saritha, the present complaint adds a wholly new dimension to the entire issue.
Saritha Nair named Oommen Chandy and numerous other top Congress leaders for sexually exploiting her, including former Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, who along with the Special Investigation Team probing the case, helped Chandy and his staff escape the criminal procedures in the infamous case. However, the Kerala High Court while hearing Chandy’s petition over the Solar Judicial Inquiry Commission report, had ruled that findings of the Commission based on Saritha’s letter need not be considered. Now, the present complaint by Saritha has been filed and FIR registered in that background, the law shall take its course. It must also be kept in mind that the multi-crore solar energy investment fraud, led by Nair and her live-in partner Biju Radhakrishnan, had rocked the Oommen Chandy government in 2013 as it came to light that a section of the Chief Minister’s office had links with the couple. It seemed that the Oomen Chandy government had landed in a soup with allegations of foul-play and favoritism.
Meanwhile, the former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy ridiculed the allegations levied against him and claimed that they were politically motivated. He said, “this has happened before also and now this fresh development has surfaced because of the issues in Sabarimala. I will deal with this case legally and on Monday in the state capital, I will reveal more details.” He is therefore trying to suggest that a fake complaint has been made against him and that there are political motives behind it.
These are allegations of an extremely serious nature. Firstly, the allegations if proved would be unbecoming of the office of the chief minister and would be taken as a blot on the dignity of the chief minister. This also raises questions of financial impropriety, as Saritha Nair has alleged that she had been sexually assaulted in return of not being charged with criminal proceedings. This has landed the Congress unit of Kerala and its leaders in fresh trouble.
