Court made the remake while hearing a Public Interest Litigation.
By Dileep Thekkethil
The Congress lead UDF government in Kerala, which is nearing the completion of the five-year tenure in the office, is in all sorts of trouble after a Vigilance Court on Thursday asked to file FIR against Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Power Minister Aryadan Mohammed stating that ‘nobody is above the law, be it the CM or the PM.’
Oommen Chandy and Aryadan Mohammed are embroiled in a controversy after the infamous solar scam convict, Saritha S Nair, made new revelations to the Solar Commission that she paid bribe to both ministers to get sanction and other benefits for the clandestine solar project.
The court made the remark while hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by an activist in Thrissur.
On Wednesday, Saritha S Nair, while providing evidence to the Judicial commission investigating the Solar scam said that she paid Rs 1.90 crore bribe to the Chief Minister in order to get the subsidy and other benefits for her now defunct solar energy company.
She also alleged that the state Power Minister Aryadan Muhammmed was bribed for Rs 40 Lakh for the same.
Saritha’s new revelation came just a day after Chief Minister Oommen Chandy refused to undergo a lie detection test while he appeared before the solar commission for enquiry.
The whole controversy popped up after Saritha and her live-in partner Biju Radhakrishnan floated a firm named Team Solar Renewable Energy Solutions Private Limited back in 2011 and later both were arrested in 2013 after investors complained of cheating. The firm had collected crores from many leading investors showing they had close relationship with the Chief Minister’s office.
Biju Radhakrishnan, who is currently serving life imprisonment for murdering his wife, had during last month said to the judicial commission that he had paid Ommen Chaandy a bribe of close to Rs. 5.5 crore.
Shrugging off the current developments in the case, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that it is a “political controversy” cooked up by the opposition and a section of bar owners.
Chandy said “The new allegations are part of a political conspiracy hatched in connivance with the liquor lobby. The government had taken a bold decision to close down several liquor bars. Because they (bar owners) lost their battle in various courts — high court and Supreme Court, they have come with new allegations to hit out at the government.”