AK Saseendran was trapped by TV Channel for commercial gain, concludes Antony Commission
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Commission headed by retired judge P S Antony which probed the sleaze allegations against the former transport minister A K Saseendran is understood to have concluded that he was trapped by the Malayalam TV channel for commercial gain.
The commission, which submitted its 405-page, two-volume report to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday, has reportedly recommended strong action against the channel and its head, and also to recover losses caused to the exchequer from them. The indications are that the commission has not come down too heavily on Saseendran, which could pave the way for his return to the Pinarayi Vijayan ministry.
Antony declined to comment on the contents of his report, but two factors are favourable to Saseendran. Firstly, the female TV channel employee who levelled the allegation against him did not appear before the commission.
Secondly, the complete and unedited recording of the conversation between the minister and the woman was not produced before the commission.
There is a Supreme Court ruling in 2011 which says that only a recording that is unedited can be relied upon.
The report is understood to have taken a critical view of the manner in which the visual media functions, and suggests regulatory mechanisms.
After the resignation of Thomas Chandy, who was embroiled in a land grab scam after succeeding Saseendran as transport minister, the NCP leadership had declared that the first among them to get acquitted would be reappointed as the minister.
Saseendran had stepped down as transport minister on March 26 after the TV channel aired an audio clip of a sexually explicit phone conversation purportedly made by him with a woman. Saseendran promptly resigned, but said his decision should not be interpreted as an admission of guilt.
The Cabinet had appointed the P S Antony Commission on March 29 to investigate the charges against the minister.
Saseendran was the second minister in the Pinarayi Cabinet, after E P Jayarajan, to resign. Jayarajan had put in his papers after he faced nepotism charges. He was succeeded as transport minister by his party colleague and Kuttanad MLA Thomas Chandy who took charge on April 1. But Chandy also had to resign following encroachment charges.