KOCHI:CPI leader Pannian Raveendran deposed before Justice G Sivarajan Judicial Commission probing the Solar scam case that Chief Minister Oommen Chandy acted as middleman and facilitated the scam.
He also submitted copies of the letters sent by the Chief Minister to former Union Minister Farooq Abdullah.
He said that the letters, sent on December 13, 2012 and January 16, 2013, were prime documents proving the involvement of Oommen Chandy in the Solar scam. He said the meeting conducted by Biju Radhakrishnan, an accused in the case, at the Ernakulam Guesthouse was part of a conspiracy.
Oommen Chandy had stated that Biju met him at the guesthouse to discuss some family matter.
Pannian stated that discussing family matters with the Chief Minister for over an hour was suspicious. He submitted that the Commission should record the statements of the Chief Minister and Biju.
“Had the government implemented the solar project with the assistance of ANERT, it would have solved the electricity crisis in the State and received Rs 100 crore as financial aid from the Central Government,” the CPI leader said, adding that the failure of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate in recording the secret statement of Saritha S Nair, another key accused in the case, was suspicious. Pannyan further stated that the Law Secretary had influenced the magistrate in declining to record Saritha’s statement.