Solar Scam: CBI begins probe on sexual assault allegations against ex-Kerala CM, others

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday has started a probe against the All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary KC Venugopal, former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Congress MPs Adoor Prakash and Hibi Eden, and Congress MLA AP Anil Kumar over allegations of sexual exploitation in connection with the solar scam case. CBI has filed an FIR that also names AP Abdullakutty, National Vice President of BJP. CBI submitted the FIR in the Chief Judicial Magistrate courts at Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi. CBI's Thiruvananthapuram unit is probing the matter, as reported by news agency ANI.

In a letter to the police commissioner on July 19, 2013, the woman accused in the solar scam case had levelled sexual misconduct and corruption charges against several Congress and UDF leaders, including Chandy, some of his ministers, and two former Union ministers. Besides, In January 2021, the Kerala government, led by the CPI(M), requested a CBI investigation into the case. The accused in the solar scam case - the woman and her partner Biju Radhakrishnan were acquitted and condemned by a Kozikhode court in April 2021, following a corruption scandal that erupted during the UDF rule. 

Sexual harassment allegations against Oommen Chandy

The charges originally arose in 2013, when the lady penned a letter from prison accusing former Kerala CM Chandy, then-transport minister Aryadan Mohammed, KC Venugopal, and other Congress officials such as Hibi Eden and Adoor Prakash, among others, of sexual harassment. The complainant had alleged that she was subjected to sexual abuse by the accused when she visited them to apprise them of the solar projects. The abuse mostly happened at the official residences of the ministers, MLA hostels and hotel rooms as per the complaint. The police had registered cases against them in 2018. 

Earlier, Former Kerala CM Chandy was accused of receiving bribes from the lady and her companion and seeking sexual favours from her. The Solar Commission, led by Justice (Retd) G Sivarajan, investigated this after reviewing Oommen Chandy's staff's phone calls. The Commission concluded that Chandy knew the woman well.

Kerala Solar Scam Case 2013

According to the trial court, the woman and her accomplice swindled many individuals out of crores of rupees by promising to install solar panels and giving franchises and jobs in their company, Team Solar Renewable Energy Solutions Company. Multiple charges of sexual assault against then-CM Chandy, other ministers in his government, and other party officials were made in connection with this issue. Chandy is said to have volunteered to quit as a result of this. Following widespread demonstrations by the opposition, the administration ordered a judicial investigation.

With ANI inputs

Image: PTI