Phone call case: Kerala Minister Saseendran gets clean chit from police

Kerala Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran, who figured in controversy after the surfacing of his phone conversation with a party member, in which he asks the latter to "amicably settle a case" involving his daughter's alleged harassment by another party leader in Kollam, heaved a sigh of relief on Wednesday when the police probe gave him a clean chit.

The issue had figured in the headlines with the Congress-led opposition raking it up both inside and outside the Assembly.

After going through the audio clip of the phone conversation, the government counsel, who first studied the matter, had to take recourse to English lexicon and got the exact words translated, and concluded there was nothing which Sasendran spoke that hurt the sentiments or was anti-woman.

Then it was the turn of the local police officials who did a detailed probe and they also, after analysis, concluded there was nothing which the Minister did which would invite any sort of action as he had used the word amicable and his tone and tenor in the audio clip was not at all threatening.

Incidentally, the Kerala Lok Ayukta had recently dismissed a petition in this regard and gave the Minister a clean chit.

Saseendran belongs to the NCP and following the revelation, the Congress and the BJP had demanded his resignation and a probe.

NCP state President P.C. Chacko, a former top Congress leader, had then given Saseendran a clean chit also.

In March 2017, Saseendran, who was also a minister in the first Pinarayi Vijayan government, had to quit following release of a "sleaze talk" with a woman. However, he later returned after a court cleared him after the woman backed out.