KOCHI: Highlighting the need to protect individual reputation, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday observed that a press note issued by the state government based on the report of Solar Inquiry Commission which contains adverse remarks against former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and former MLAs was ‘unwarranted’.The court observed that the only concern at this stage was with regard to tarnishing the image of an individual. Public discussion of the contents of the letter allegedly written by Saritha Nair, the prime accused in the Solar scam, will damage the image of the petitioner and others. The state government is also bound to protect the fundamental rights of a citizen.
Appearing for Oommen Chandy, Congress leader and senior Supreme Court lawyer Kapil Sibal submitted that the commission impleaded as many as 11 private parties who are in no way connected to the terms of reference. The commission also expanded the scope of inquiry by adding five other issues as part of the first item of Terms of Reference (ToR) under the guise of summing up the allegations required to be inquired under the first item of ToR. Since the appropriate government did not issue a fresh notification under section 3 of the Commission of Inquiry Act expanding and amending the terms of reference, the report is liable to be quashed.
During the examination, Saritha Nair had denied the allegation regarding sexual exploitation by the petitioner. The letter sent by her to the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Ernakulam, specifically stated that she did not have complaints against anybody. The Kerala High Court had also observed that she was not a person of any credibility. Despite all these facts, the Commission went outside the scope of the ToR and endeavoured to analyse the letter written by her on July 19, 2013, while she was in police custody. The Commission decided to accept the letter on record and also analysed the letter without serving notice to Oommen Chandy, counsel argued.
The letter was made part of the report without examining its authenticity and genuineness and arrived at a wrong finding indicting him and other former ministers, MLAs and certain police officers in the serious allegation of rape and molestation. The Commission’s observations had caused serious injuries to his reputation and violated the right to privacy, the petition stated. Meanwhile, K Surendran, BJP state general secretary, approached the High Court seeking to implead in the case.