Solar scam: After 14 hours of questioning, Kerala CM Chandy refuses to undergo lie detector test

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy refused to undergo a lie-detector test while deposing before a judicial commission probing charges in the “solar scam” allegedly linked to his staff. [caption id=“attachment_2485048” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Chandy says no/ PTI[/caption] “The state exchequer has not incurred any loss in the issue, nor has the accused obtained any monetary advantage. I have not stated any lie and acted against my conscience. Why I should undergo a lie-detector test?’’ Chandy told reporters. Chandy deposed before the judicial commission probing the solar panel scam for 14 hours and it went on past midnight, during which he asserted there was no need for him to undergo lie-detector test as he has done “nothing wrong”. Chandy, who is the first Chief Minister in Kerala to appear before a judicial commission, told the commission that the charges against him and his office were “politically motivated”. “What is the need for that? (lie-detector test). I have not done anything wrong. None has doubts that I have done anything wrong,” he said to a query during cross-examination. Chandy’s deposition went on for 14 hours after it commenced at 11 am yesterday and concluded at 1 am on Tuesday, an official said today. Chandy made a similar remark on the lie-detector test to reporters outside the government guest house. He told the commission that the charges against him and his office are “politically motivated”. Opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan hit out at Chandy. “If he (Chandy) had spoken the truth, why was he not ready to take the polygraph test,” he told reporters at Thiruvananthapuram. The commission was on its final stage of evidence taking on the scam that broke out in 2013 and caused a huge embarrassment to the Congress-led UDF government. The Kochi-based commission held the sitting at government guest house here to enable Chandy depose as per his earlier request. Rejecting charges that he and his office had helped Team Solar Company that committed the fraud, Chandy had said that after the scam broke out, the government had taken steps to bring the alleged ‘fraudsters’—Biju Radhakrishnan and Saritha S Nair—before law. Chandy had said that his government had ensured punishment to the fraudsters who were committing the crime since 2005 and that the conviction and sentence of the accused clearly showed his government’s commitment towards the scam, he added. Chandy had also hit out at the opposition, saying they had so far not brought before the commission a single shred of proof to support their charges that he and his office had helped the Team Solar Company. The opposition CPI(M)-led LDF had launched a massive stir demanding Chandy’s resignation as the scam took a political turn after it emerged that two members of the CM’s staff—Tenny Joppen and Jikkumon—had alleged links with Saritha. The government had appointed retired High Court judge Sivarajan as one-man commission on October 23, 2013, to probe the scam. The scam pertains to cheating several persons of worth crores of rupees by Saritha and Radhakrishnan by offering solar panel solutions. The duo allegedly canvassed business by using high-level names, including that of Chandy. While Saritha was granted bail after being behind bars for about nine months, Radhakrishnan is still in jail in connection with the murder of his wife. PTI