Kerala Assembly to discuss ‘conspiracy’ against Chandy in sexual exploitation case

The Kerala government on Monday agreed to discuss in the state assembly the issue of the alleged conspiracy to implicate late Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in a sexual exploitation case in connection with the solar scam.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan agreed to discuss the issue as sought by the Congress-led UDF opposition in a notice moved by it to adjourn the House and take up the matter in view of a recent CBI report.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which was probing the matter, has reportedly named the political leaders who were allegedly behind the accusations against Chandy by a woman who is the prime accused in the sensational solar scam. While agreeing to discuss the issue in the House, Vijayan said making any comments on the matter would not be possible as the government was yet to officially receive the report that CBI has tabled before a magisterial court.

The chief minister also said that without officially getting the report, the government cannot take any steps merely based on news articles about the contents of the document in question. He also said that the complaint was transferred to the CBI for investigation in accordance with the request by the complainant. As the government agreed to discuss the matter, Speaker A N Shamseer said it will be taken up in the House at 1 PM.

Conspiracy against Chandy: Opposition

The Congress-led UDF opposition has demanded a probe to find out who was behind the alleged conspiracy. It has demanded that those found by the CBI to have conspired against the late Congress leader be brought to justice. The opposition also alleged that it was a conspiracy to topple the then UDF government by making allegations against Chandy. The names of Kerala Congress (B) MLA K B Ganesh Kumar and his close relative Saranya Manoj reportedly figure in the CBI's report.

The Kerala Congress (B) is a part of the ruling LDF. Manoj, on Sunday, had claimed there was no political conspiracy in the matter and that he was hurt by the "unnecessary" allegations against Chandy. He had also told reporters that were no sexual assault related allegations against Chandy in the initial letter of the complainant and that Kumar had no role in the matter.

The CBI in December last year had given a clean chit to Chandy in the sexual exploitation allegation levelled by a woman, who is the prime accused in the sensational solar scam that had rocked the state when his government was in power nearly a decade ago. The CBI had earlier submitted referral reports in the court giving clean chits to four other Congress leaders including AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, Lok Sabha MPs Adoor Prakash and Hibi Eden, and MLA A P Anil Kumar who were named as accused in the sexual exploitation case filed by the woman.

The cases against the six people, including Chandy, were registered over the past few years and investigated by the Crime Branch of the Kerala Police based on a complaint by the woman, an accused in the multi-crore solar panel scam during the UDF government, that she was sexually exploited by them in 2012. The CPI(M)-led Kerala government had recommended a CBI inquiry into the cases in January 2021, a few months ahead of the polls to the state assembly.

(With inputs from agencies)