CBI clean chit for Oommen Chandy in sexual exploitation case

Chandy posted on Facebook: “Truth cannot be covered up. I had no worries about the investigation, by any agency. The police under the LDF regime had also found that the complaint was baseless. In many cases in which CPI(M) workers were allegedly accused, CPI(M) had opposed the CBI probe in court. Then why did that party opt for a CBI probe in the solar case? My life has been an open book. Everyone should think whether it is right to put public servants under the cloud of suspicion over baseless allegations.”

Satheesan said, “Vijayan recommended the CBI probe only to insult the party leaders. Now, the woman in the gold smuggling case has raised allegations against Chief Minister Vijayan and his family. Why can’t that allegation be recommended for a CBI probe?”

In August 2021, CBI had registered cases against Chandy and other Congress leaders — K C Venugopal, Lok Sabha MPs Hibi Eden and Adoor Prakash, MLA A P Anil Kumar — and BJP national vice-president A P Abdullakutty, who had been with the Congress when the alleged incident took place in 2012. The CBI, in separate reports submitted in court in the recent past, had stated that there was no evidence to suggest the other five leaders had allegedly abused the complainant.

The sexual allegation against the political leaders emerged as an offshoot of the solar scandal, in which an alleged conwoman and her partner had cheated several people by promising them solar power solutions and partnerships in solar energy projects. The issue had rocked the then UDF government in 2013 after it was alleged that three personal staff members of then chief minister Chandy were involved in the cheating case.

The government had ordered a judicial probe into the scam. Based on recommendation of the judicial commission, the previous LDF government had allowed police to register rape cases against the Congress leaders. Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani’s name had also emerged in the case.

As the Crime Branch probe did not make any headway, in 2020 the complainant wrote to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and asked that the case be handed over to CBI. In her complaint to Vijayan, the woman had dropped Jose K Mani’s name.

Mani’s party had then joined hands with the LDF. Based on the complainant’s letter, Vijayan recommended a CBI probe.