Fictitious solar scam case used against Oomen Chandy, others in Kerala: Congress

Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress on Friday slammed Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for using a fabricated solar scam case against former Congress Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and others.

"Two books came out recently about the solar scam case. One by former state minister C. Divakaran, and the other by former DGP A. Hemachandran. Both the books have given clean chit to Chandy and others," state Congress President K. Sudhakaran said.

He said that since Hemachandran gave a clean chit to Chandy, he has been given a non-policing job.

"Four other top police officers, who were part of the probe team and had absolved Chandy of all charges, were also persecuted by Vijayan," he claimed.

"Divakaran in his book has written about the Sivarajan report. It is a haphazard report. Hemachandran has described the report, which only contains sleaze.

"Just before the 2021 Assembly polls, Vijayan, based on a letter from Saritha, had asked for a CBI probe. Vijayan is staunchly opposed to any CBI probe when it comes to cases related to him. He has also spent money from the state coffers to prevent a CBI probe," Sudhakaran claimed.

The CBI has given a clean chit to Chandy and a few other Congress leaders.

"Vijayan has proved that he will hunt his political adversaries using the probe agencies," said alleged.

The Solar Scam Case

The solar scam case came to light after a couple -- Saritha and Radhakrishnan -- failed to supply solar panels after taking money from the people. The case got linked to then CM Oommen Chandy after it was found out that three of his staff members had links with Saritha.

Chandy had announced a one-member judicial commission, headed by retired judge G. Sivarajan, in 2013 following an outcry by then CPI-M state Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.

Initially, the retired judge had failed to submit the probe report before Chandy's term ended. However, after the incumbent Chief Minister won a landslide victory in 2016, Sivarajan submitted the report indicting the former Chief Minister and others.

However, Chandy moved the high court and got a major portion of the report, based on a letter written by Saritha, culled out.