Solar scam: Panel serves notice to Kerala CM, Ministers

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was on Friday served notice by a commission probing the solar panel scam which had rocked the state in 2013.

Besides Chandy, the Justice Sivarajan Commission also issued notice to several politicians, including state ministers and legislators against whom several witnesses gave statements and submitted evidence during their examination. Notices have been issued on the basis of Section 8 (B) of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, which says that persons likely to be prejudicially affected by the inquiry to be heard.

However, there is no compulsion for the CM and others to appear before the Commission because of the notice as it was meant to give them a reasonable opportunity of being heard in the inquiry and to produce evidence in their defence. The commission, headed by retired High Court judge G Sivarajan, has examined several people, including politicians from the opposition on whether the government suffered any financial loss due to the alleged deals.

The solar case relates to duping of several persons by the two prime accused Saritha S Nair and Biju Radhakrishnan after promising to install solar power panels for them. While Saritha was granted bail after being behind bars for some nine months, Biju Radhakrishnan is still in jail. After the scam broke out, the opposition had demanded resignation of Chandy as the names of two of his personal staff had come up during the probe. PTI TGB