Kerala solar scam: Congress slams report indicting Oomen Chandy, terms it 'sex novel'

Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress in Kerala continued to slam the Justice G Sivarajan (Retd) panel’s report on the solar scam indicting then chief minister Oomen Chandy and several of his ministers with the party state chief on Sunday terming it a “sex novel”. The report, tabled in the Kerala Assembly last Thursday, spoke of corruption and sexual harassment that the scam’s prime accused, Saritha Nair, had to face and other charges in the multi-crore solar energy investment fraud that rocked the then Chandy government in 2013. [caption id=“attachment_2789070” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Oomen Chandy. PTI[/caption] Continuing to assail the report, state Congress president MM Hassan said that while there have been numerous reports that have been submitted by various commissions in the past, this one stands out. “This is no report, instead this is one that can be termed as a ‘sex novel’,” he told the media in Kozhikode. Among the tormentors that Saritha Nair named in her letter, that has been published in the more than 1,000-page report, include Chandy, his then cabinet colleagues, present and former legislators, Lok Sabha members and top leaders. Former state minister and senior Congress legislator KC Joseph told media on Sunday that the credibility of the commission report is indeed questionable. “The findings of the commission cannot be seen as one with good intention. it is one that describes the ‘beauty’ of Saritha Nair,” said Joseph. Leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala told media that the contents of the report reveal the callous way it has been prepared by the commission. “It would have been better had the job of writing the report given to the state CPM state secretary,” he said. The top leadership of the party at the national level has fully backed Chandy and in the coming days, the party’s state leadership, which by now has held widespread consultations with legal experts, is likely to initiate legal steps against the report.