Kerala's solar scam: a political weapon blunted
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The CBI has found former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy not guilty in the sexual harassment case filed by the accused in the infamous solar scam case. The central investigation agency has thus given a clean chit to Oommen Chandy stating that the complaint that she was summoned to the Chief Minister's official residence Cliff House and tortured is untrue and no evidence has been found to prove this. Others investigated for the same alleged offence, that include current BJP National Vice President AP Abdullahkutty, Congress leader KC Venugopal, Hibi Eden MP, Adoor Prakash MP, and AP Anil Kumar MLA, have also been declared not guilty. Also, the CBI rejected the complainant's allegation that Oommen Chandy took bribe to roll out the solar energy policy in the state. With this, it can be said, the political controversy which kept the UDF on tenterhooks for almost nine years has come to an end, albeit temporarily. What comes next will depend on whether any further legal action will be preferred by the complainant in the matter. Regardless of that, the CBI's finding is a personal and political relief to leaders including Oommen Chandy. On the other hand, this inquiry report represents a setback for the state government. The conclusions of the CBI at least to some extent confirm the allegations that the action of the Pinarayi government was part of a political vendetta in a case that was under investigation by the crime branch and was handed over to the CBI solely on the basis of a statement by the complainant.
The solar case was unprecedented in the history of Kerala ever since its birth. The case started when a group that had extorted crores of rupees by promising to set up solar farms and wind farms in the state was caught. The case came to be talked about and enquired all over Kerala with the information emerging that those arrested, including a woman, had relations with the people's representatives including Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and some political leaders of the ruling party. The judicial inquiry, which was announced after wide protests, was completed four years later. By then, the Oommen Chandy government was replaced by the Pinarayi Vijayan government. The report submitted by Justice Sivarajan contained the mention, part of which is evenrepulsive, that Oommen Chandy and his team connived with those who cheated the people by making false promises in the name of a non-existent company called 'Team Solar' and for that they were rewarded with money and women's dignity. The 1067-page report in four volumes also recommended that the matter be comprehensively investigated. That being the case, referring the investigation to the CBI cannot be termed wrong. However, when the 2021 assembly elections were just days away, because only sexual harassment cases were referred to the CBI, political animosity was naturally suspected. Earlier, the Crime Branch had announced an investigation against Oommen Chandy during the Vengara by-election; an investigation was ordered against Adoor Prakash and others in the context of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In short, it is not out of place to infer that the Left government approached the Solar harassment cases as part of its political struggle against the UDF. In this context, the government has apparently suffered a major defeat in that 'struggle'.
Questioning the credibility of the complainant, the CBI has raised suspicions that the complaints raised by her are entirely fake. Her complaint was that the political leaders sexually assaulted her when she approached them to raise investments in solar projects. Interestingly, even the statements of the witnesses produced by the complainant herself, and they included former legislator PC George too, were not favorable to her. Then why did the Pinarayi government hand over the investigation to the CBI - a decision taken without even waiting for the approval of the cabinet merely based on the statement of the complainant? It is also significant that Jose K. Mani who was earlier in the list of 'accused' and by then had become part of the Left front was excluded from the investigation - a step that speaks for the political motivation of the decision. The party and the government, given to constantly complaining that the central government is hunting down 'opposition states' using investigative agencies, can be said to have used the same political stick against their opponents. One would wonder how desirable this is for our political culture.