“My life is an open book in front of the people. Those who raise baseless allegations against public figures and bring them under the shadow of suspicion should introspect at least now whether doing such things is right,” This was how former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy reacted after he was absolved of the charges in the solar case by the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI).
Kerala had witnessed how Oommen Chandy came out untainted in the trial by fire despite the Left Democratic Front and the two Pinarayi regimes attempting to end his political career by levelling baseless allegations for nearly two decades in the solar case.
When the Director General of Police and ADGPs stated that there was no substance in the charges to register cases, the government entrusted the crime branch with the task. When even the crime branch could not gather any evidence, the case was handed over to the CBI which had always been derided by the CPM in the past.
Although the state police and the crime branch which conducted two parallel investigations during the first Pinarayi Vijayan regime (2016-21), found the sexual assault charge by the woman behind the solar plant project did not have any basis, the case was handed over to the CBI just before the end of the first government’s tenure.
It was the then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who declared the establishment of a judicial inquiry and appointed Justice G Sivarajan as the inquiry commission in 2013 after the CPM organised widespread protests over the solar allegations.
There were two levels of charges in the solar case – financial irregularities and sexual assault. The allegation that some members of Oommen Chandy’s staff were close to the woman complainant was used as a handle by the Opposition to push him into a corner. The first Pinarayi government also used the commission’s report, which had included a letter written by the complainant, as a weapon to attack Chandy.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan declared that permission had been granted to register cases against all those who were named in the letter, including Chandy.
The government informed the High Court that there was sufficient evidence to prove the case. However, the High Court directed that the sexual assault charges raised by the complainant should be removed from the commission’s report. Although this came as a slap on the face of the government, it decided to register cases on the basis of petitions filed specially by the complainant. A special team was formed under the DGP of the north zone, Rajesh Diwan, for the purpose. The legal advice given by the former judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Arijit Pasayat, was that the sexual allegation would not stand the test of law.
Rajesh Diwan withdrew from the case after submitting a letter to the then DGP Loknath Behera, stating that the preliminary investigations had proved that the complaint lacked credibility. Following this, the investigation was entrusted to ADGP Anil Kant of south zone.
He too withdrew from the task, stating that cases could not be registered on the basis of fake allegations. At last, the investigation was handed over to the crime branch. Although a special team was constituted, officials in the team reiterated that there was no evidence to proceed with the case.
Following this, cases were registered individually against the leaders after the complainant was made to file petitions against each of them. Although Oommen Chandy received legal advice to obtain anticipatory bail as he was likely to be arrested, he was determined to face the situation if he was arrested on the basis of a fake complaint.
At last, the crime branch submitted a report stating that the case was not maintainable. Even though the complainant approached the Supreme Court, she could not get a favourable verdict.
The government handed over the case to the CBI just before the Assembly elections after the police and crime branch under its own rule dumped the case.
The CBI told the court that the case should be closed as there was no evidence of sexual assault by Oommen Chandy and BJP’s national vice-president A P Abdullah Kutty as alleged by the accused person in the solar case. The CBI also stated in the report that that there was no evidence of sexual assault either against Members of Parliament Hibi Eden, Adoor Prakash, K C Venugopal, and A P Anil Kumar, MLA.
Oommen Chandy faced Commission with a smile
After Justice Sivarajan and advocates became tired of bombarding the former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy with questions, they suggested the recording of the statement could continue the next day. They repeated the offer not once but three times. But Chandy requested them to continue with the interrogation since such a suitable day would not be available anytime soon, putting the commission into a quandary.
Even after the questioning that began at the Thycaud guest house at 11 am went on till 10:45 in the night, Chandy was as lively as in the morning. He was unfazed despite the repeated questioning by the opponents’ advocates.
Oommen Chandy replied with a heartening smile when the commission and advocates asked him whether recording of his statement could continue the next day. Although the advocates were not keen, the process continued after a interval for 5 minutes. When the commission repeated the question at 5 in the evening, Chandy said that the proceedings should go on.
The recording of Chandy’s statement took place in January 2016.