THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A special session of the Kerala Assembly will be convened on November 9 to table the Solar Commission report. Also, with the commission findings and the cabinet decision for further probe kicking up a row, the government will again seek legal advice on the report and further action.Expert legal opinion will be sought from Justice Arijit Pasayat, former Supreme Court judge. The government had earlier taken legal advice from the Advocate General and Director General of Prosecution, based on which it decided to carry out an investigation against a slew of Congress leaders, including former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
The cabinet which met here on Wednesday decided to seek expert legal advice from Justice Pasayat to double-check the procedures before issuing the order on investigation. Whether Justice Sivarajan Commission had gone beyond its Terms of Reference, as alleged by opposition UDF, is a crucial issue.
Following certain confusion in this regard, the government orders constituting the probe team, have not been issued till now.
Meanwhile there are reports that top officials are reluctant to issue orders in this regard in view of the confusion. The cabinet decided to recommend to the Governor to promulgate the special session.
The one-day session will be solely dedicated to tabling of the controversial report and further discussions on the same. It will be the first time, the Assembly is being convened for a day to discuss a judicial commission report. The Chief Minister will present the report as per Rule 300 under the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Kerala Legislative Assembly.
The Justice Sivarajan Commission, appointed to look into the multi-crore solar scam, had submitted its findings before Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in September. Following this, the government sought legal advice on the findings. Two weeks later, the Cabinet decided to go for probe by a Special Investigation Team and Vigilance into the allegations. The government also decided to register sexual harassment charges against several Congress leaders, including Oommen Chandy. The move had invited severe criticism from Opposition UDF. The Congress had announced that the case will be fought legally and politically.
Chandy says govt should admit to the mistake
Pathanamthitta: Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the government should openly admit to the mistake that the legal opinion it sought earlier on the Solar Commission report was wrong as the government pointed out that it would be done again.
Disciplinary action willbe painful: Padmakumar
T’Puram: ADGP K Padmakumar said it was natural for the accused in a case to raise allegations against investigators. His comment was in the backdrop of the government move to launch a probe against him and other officers who investigated the solar scam cases. Padmakumar said here that some fake stories were on the rounds against