No police case against Kerala CM in solar scam, says High Court

Thrissur: In a major relief to Congress-led UDF government, Kerala High Court on Friday stayed a Vigilance Court order to register an FIR against Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Power Minister Arayadan Mohammed in the solar scam case.

Considering pleas filed by Chandy and Mohammed, Justice P Ubaid observed that the Inquiry Commissioner and Special Judge (Vigilance), Thrissur, acted mechanically without knowing the nature and extent of its powers.

Suspending the Vigilance Court orders for two months, the High Court also directed its administrative section to consider action against the Vigilance Court judge.

"The Vigilance Court suffers jurisdiction errors," the High Court said.

The scam relates to the duping of several persons by the two prime accused -- S Saritha Nair and Radhakrishnan -- who had promised to install solar power panels for them.

In his petition, Chandy said the Vigilance Court proceeded to act upon newspaper reports to pass "the impugned order" and it has "committed a grave error of jurisdiction".

The Vigilance Court judge, who ordered the vigilance director to register an FIR against Chandy and Mohammed and six others in the case, had observed that everyone was equal before law, "be it a village man or a chief minister."

Judge S S Vassan in the order had stated that he was not making any comments on the merits of the case.

"I have to bear in mind Article 14 of the Constitution. Be it a village man or the chief minister, law is equal to all public servants. Therefore the complaint is forwarded to Director VACB (Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau) for investigation under sect 156(3) CrPC," the judge had said.

He had directed that the report has to be submitted by April 11, the next hearing of the case.

Read: Solar panel scam: Oommen Chandy denies fresh charges by prime accused

Meanwhile, students and youth activists staged protests in front of the Secretariat and in other parts of the state demanding resignation of Chandy even as police used tear gas shells and water cannons to disperse the agitators. Protests were witnessed in other parts of the state, including Kozhikode and Alappuzha.

The protest march by Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of CPI(M), turned violent here following which police used tear gas shells and batons to chase away the agitators, who gathered in large numbers and pelted stones at the forces, police said.

The main road in front of the state Secretariat in the heart of the city virtually turned into a battlefield. Many media personnel covering the incident also suffered injuries in the melee. Shops remained shut in the area and vehicles parked on the road were damaged.

The protesters, who raised slogans demanding resignation of Chandy, engaged in a scuffle in front of the district collectorate at Kozhikode. Police used water cannons against the protesters there also.

Read: Solar scam: Kerala court orders FIR against CM Oommen Chandy

Chandy had denied the charges levelled against him and said "he cannot be removed from the post by raising false allegations and disgracing him."

Meanwhile, Saritha S Nair, prime accused in the solar scam, alleged that he had telephoned her mother to influence her not to reveal facts related to the case while she was lodged in jail in 2013.

Read: Solar scam: CM phoned mom asking not to reveal details, says prime accused