Fmr Kerala CM Oommen Chandy gets clean chit: What was the sexual exploitation case?

This was a major scandal in the state, and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) came to power in 2016 on the back of these damaging allegations against the Congress-led UDF government. The CPI(M)-led Kerala government had recommended a CBI inquiry into the cases in January 2021, a few months ahead of the polls to the State Assembly.

The Indian Express takes a look at the Kerala solar scam case.

A couple who hoodwinked businessmen with tall promises

In 2013, Saritha S Nair and her partner Biju Radhakrishnan were arrested. Business partners in a Kochi-based firm, Team Solar Renewable Energy Solutions Pvt Limited, the couple would allegedly collect investments from businessmen and NRIs, promising to make them partners in windmill projects and solar fields.

According to the police, they dropped names of politicians, including Chandy, to convince businessmen to invest in their schemes. If that wasn’t enough, the couple would produce forged letterheads of the CM’s office and impress people by talking on the phone to the CM’s staff. One of the meetings, with an investor called Sreedharan Nair, reportedly took place in the chief minister’s conference room.

Sajad A, a Gulf-returned businessman, filed a complaint against the couple with the police, alleging that they had taken Rs 40 lakh as consultation fee after falsely promising to make him the owner of three windmills projects. Sajad’s complaint led to the couple’s arrest in 2013, with more complaints trickling in. The police would go on to register 33 cases of cheating against the couple.

Nair’s phone records embarrass the government

Saritha Nair’s call records brought some facts to light. They showed that she had been in touch with Chandy’s staff members – personal assistant Tenni Joppen, additional personal assistant Jikkumon Jacob and Chandy’s security guard Salim Raj. Several of these calls had been traced to the landline in the CM’s office and to Joppen’s cell phone, which the chief minister was known to often use himself.

The call details allegedly showed she was also in touch with 30-odd UDF leaders including two Union ministers (K C Venugopal and Kodikkunnil Suresh), four serving or former state ministers (Adoor Prakash, A P Anil Kumar, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and K B Ganesh Kumar) and eight MLAs including Congress legislators Hybi Eden and Mons Jacob. While most of the calls were made by Saritha, at least eight, including three by ministers, were reportedly made to her. Some of the ministers had made late-night calls lasting several minutes.

Accusations of sexual exploitation and corruption

While in jail, both Saritha Nair and Biju Radhakrishnan attacked the UDF government, claiming that they were being made scapegoats in the case.

In 2013, Nair wrote a letter naming multiple VVIPs who had allegedly sexually abused her, promising solar business contracts in return for sexual favours. This letter came to light in 2016 and in 2018, the police registered rape cases against former chief minister Oommen Chandy and AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, among others.

In her deposition in 2016, Nair said she had paid a bribe of Rs 1.90 crore to Chandy in 2012 through his then aide in Delhi, Thomas Kuruvila, and Chandy’s additional PA Jikkumon Jacob for getting land and subsidies for her solar projects. Nair also alleged that Power Minister Aryadan Muhammed had pocketed Rs 40 lakh. Both Chandy and Muhammed refuted the allegations.

In December 2015, Radhakrishnan claimed to have visuals that show Chandy and five others – ministers A P Anil Kumar and Shibu Baby John, Kumar’s personal secretary Nazeerulla, Congress MLA Hybi Eden and Congress leader Aryadan Shoukkath – having physical relations with Nair. This evidence was never recovered.

Fallout of the scandal

While Chandy and many of UDF’s senior leadership suffered reputational damage, Chandy’s three personal staff members – Tenni Joppen, Jikkumon Jacob and Chandy’s bodyguard Salim Raj – were fired. Joppen, who had been Chandy’s right-hand man for over a decade, was arrested in July 2013 in a cheating case filed by an investor in Nair’s solar project. One public servant was also fired.

In 2021, Saritha Nair was slapped with a six-year prison sentence.

Exonerations and continuing investigations

Sources told PTI that the CBI probe has found that there was no basis for the woman’s allegation against Chandy as there was no evidence to prove that she had gone to the official residence of then Chief Minister on the day of the alleged assault. The CBI has also found that it was a fabricated case, the PTI sources further said.

“My public life has always been an open book before the people. I have done nothing against my conscience. I have not tried to hide anything from people,” Chandy said in a statement here reacting to the clean chit given to him by the CBI. Abdullakutty, who is also the chairman of the Central Haj Committee, said, “The truth prevailed in the end…it is a relief.”

The Congress went on an immediate offensive, asking Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to tender an apology to them and their family members. The state police too could not find any evidence against them though they held inquiries in the solar case three times, Congress further said.

However, the CBI probe on the solar panel scam is still on.