Day after issuing order against Chandy, Kerala judge seeks voluntary retirement

Thrissur: Hours after Kerala High Court stayed his order to register an FIR against Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and power minister Aryadan Mohammed in the ‘solar scam’, and made strong observations against him, Special Judge S S Vassan on Friday sought permission to take voluntary retirement. Vassan has sent a request to the High Court Registrar seeking permission to undertake voluntary retirement, court sources told PTI. The High Court on Friday stayed the vigilance court order directing the registration of an FIR against Chandy and Mohammed and observed that the “judge had acted mechanically without knowing the nature and extent of his powers”. [caption id=“attachment_2604370” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Oommen Chandy. File photo. AFP[/caption] The court had also directed the administrative section to consider action against Vassan observing that “the Vigilance Court suffers jurisdiction errors.” Vassan in his order had also observed that “every one is equal before law, be it a village man or a Chief Minister”. The vigilance court’s order was on the basis of a complaint filed by one P D Joseph following the allegations made by solar scam accused Saritha S Nair that a bribe amount of Rs 1.90 crore had been paid to Chandy and Rs 40 lakh to Mohammed for getting favourable decisions for the fraudulent solar company. The order had kicked up a political storm in the state with CPI(M) led LDF opposition launching agitation demanding Chandy’s resignation PTI