Former Kerala Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy, who was given a clean chit by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the solar sexual harassment case, has said that his public life is an open book. “I have nothing to hide as I have never done anything against my conscience,” he said in a Facebook post.
“All the accused in the six cases registered by the CBI over the alleged solar harassment have now been exonerated. I had no anxiety during any stage of the investigation about its outcome. I also had no objections to any agency investigating the cases. This was because I knew that truth can never be concealed,” said Chandy.
“I still hold that belief,” the former Chief Minister added.
“I understand that the probes by the Kerala Police as well as the Crime Branch had found no evidence to support the allegations in the case even when the Left Democratic Front (LDF) was in power,” he said.
Chandy also wondered whether the LDF government later handed over the investigation to the CBI because it did not trust the state police. “It is surprising that the LDF government, which utilized the services of advocates from Delhi spending huge amounts as their legal fees to prevent a CBI probe in Periya and Mattannur Shuhaib murder cases, willingly sought a probe by the agency in the solar case,” said Chandy.
He also felt that there was something suspicious about the order of the LDF government initiating a CBI probe based on a complaint submitted on a white paper. “Moreover, neither the police report nor the Crime Branch report was examined for the purpose,” pointed out Chandy.
“Earlier, when the Crime Branch had registered the case following political pressure, there were speculations that I and the other accused would be arrested. At that time, I received legal advice to seek anticipatory bail. However, I rejected the advice. I, along with my colleagues, decided to fight against the move to foist false cases on us. Later, the government withdrew from its plan to arrest us, probably fearing a backlash,” said the veteran leader.
Chandy also made it clear in the Facebook post that his public life has always been an open book. “I have neither acted against conscience nor tried to hide anything from the people,” he said.
Concluding the post, Chandy said, “it would do a world of good if everyone ponders over whether it is right to raise baseless allegations against public figures and cast a shadow of suspicion over them.”
Meanwhile, the complainant, who had earlier decided not to challenge the clean chit for Chandy, later changed her decision following legal advice received. She said she will pursue the case against all six accused.
