KOCHI: The Justice G Sivarajan Commission probing the multi-crore solar scam is unlikely to meet the July 27 deadline set by the government as it has sought extension of a few more months to submit its final report.According to a lawyer associated with the commission, it has already approached the government seeking tenure extension.
“The commission has already requested the government more time to file the report. Except report preparation, all other proceedings have been completed. Since the commission has collected evidence running to more than 10,000 pages, a few more months are required to submit the report,” he said.
The office of the commission also stated the report cannot be submitted before July 27 and a date extension will be sought. “However, a decision in this regard has to be taken by Justice G Sivarajan,” the office stated.Constituted in 2013, the commission had carried out an extensive inquiry, as part of which 353 sittings were conducted. Of this, 343 sittings were devoted to gathering evidence. As many as 214 witnesses were examined and their deposition runs into 8,464 pages.
It also examined 972 documents comprising 7,998 pages. The deposition of witnesses and the documents were compiled into 23 volumes.The commission was formed by the previous UDF Government following allegations were levelled against its leaders from various quarters in connection with the case.
As part of the inquiry, the commission had recorded the statements of Saritha S Nair, Biju Radhakrishnan, Oommen Chandy, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and some other former UDF ministers and party leaders.