A special court here on Thursday rejected a petition that former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and former Electricity Minister Aryadan Mohammed be prosecuted on the suspicion of corruption in the solar energy investment fraud case (Solar case).
Inquiry Commissioner and Special Judge A. Badharudeen’s dismissal of the complaint signalled the end of all solar case- related prosecutions against the two top United Democratic Front (UDF) politicians.
The matter had briefly become a thorn in the political prospects of the two leaders in the run-up to the State elections early 2016 when an anti-corruption court in Thrissur ordered the registration of a case against them on the suspicion of corruption and nepotism. The complainant had alleged that the two former Ministers and their personal staff had routinely received backhander payments from Solar case accused Saritha Nair and her business associate Biju Radhakrishnan in exchange for political patronage of their fraudulent schemes.
The High Court initially stayed the case and then quashed the FIR against the leaders.
Subsequently, Paichira Nawaz, a civil litigant, moved the Vigilance court here stating that the High Court had quashed the FIR because the original complainant had inexplicably failed to pursue it. He argued that the solar commission instituted in the wake of the scam that rocked State politics in 2014 was a fact-finding Commission and not a court of law.
He said the suspect officials in the case would go unpunished if the court did not take cognisance of the complaint. Nothing had come of reports filed by successive inquiry commissions in Kerala. The suspects had always escaped prosecution, he said.
Legal adviser, VACB, C. C. Augustine told the court that the High Court had found no merit in the original complaint against the suspect officials. He said in the light of the High Court decision Mr. Nawaz's petition had no relevance. The court accepted his argument and dismissed Mr. Nawaz’s petition.
