Chandy files defamation case against solar scam accused, four journalists

Thiruvananthapuram:  Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday filed a criminal defamation petition against solar scam accused Saritha Nair for "baseless allegations" and four journalists from two TV channels for telecasting them as part of a "conspiracy". An official in Chandy's office told IANS that the petition has been filed at the Ernakulam chief judicial magistrate court and was been accepted and posted for hearing on May 28. "He has filed a defamation case and along with it has pointed out that there was a conspiracy behind it," said the official who did not wish to be identified. The journalists named in the case are M.G.Radhakrishnan and Vinu V.John of Asianet News and Manoj K.Varma and K.Rajendran of the Communist Party of India-Marxist-backed Kairali TV channel. In his petition, Chandy said that these journalists knowing very well that Nair was involved in several cheating cases and lacks credibility, still decided to air the letter purportedly written by her, alleging she was sexually exploited by Chandy at his official residence here. It was on April 3 that Asianet News TV first released the letter written by Nair, who was also present when the channel aired the news. Appearing on the news channel, Nair confirmed that she had written the 24-page letter while in police custody in 2013. She, however, said she will not discuss its contents. Chandy, addressing an election meeting at Wayanad on Friday, reiterated that if there is even one percent truth in the allegations that has now come, he is not fit to be in public life. Reacting to the petition of Chandy, Nair welcomed it. "I will deal the case legally and am now planning to give a case, in which I will be producing more evidence, so the question of waiting till May 28 does not arise," she said. However, on Thursday, Nair's former counsel Feny Balakrishnan told reporters that the letter that was shown on TV channels was a fake one as he had read the original letter and it has no mention of Chandy at all. On the day this letter surfaced, Chandy dismissed it as nothing but part of a larger conspiracy ahead of the upcoming assembly polls and asserted that he will seek legal recourse against such defamatory revelations. The solar scam case surfaced when Nair and her live-in partner Biju Radhakrishnan were arrested in 2013 on charges of cheating numerous investors who paid money for solar panels. Over 30 cases of cheating against Nair and Radhakrishnan are registered in various courts. Police estimate that they cheated investors to the tune of over Rs.6 crore. While Nair is out on bail, Radhakrishnan is in jail on charges of murdering his first wife.