Solar case: Oommen Chandy states anomalies in reference terms

KOCHI: The petition filed by former chief minister Oommen Chandy led to a curious turn in Kerala High Court on Thursday. He stated that there were anomalies in the preparation of the terms of reference of the commission.  By stating that terms of reference had anomalies, the former CM has disapproved a decision taken by his government. They had the approval of his cabinet.

The court asked hs counsel Kapil Sibal if there were anomalies, why the same was not disputed then and if it was right to question the commission after it had submitted its report. He replied the earlier decision was taken as the chief minister and now he approached the court as an individual. He pointed out that an individual had the right to approach the court in case of violation of his fundamental rights.

The court then observed that the cabinet records needed to be examined and the government counsel agreed to submit them on Friday. Kapil Sibal had earlier pointed out that the commission had not prepared the report based on facts and evidence.  Mr Chandy has the right to point out the mistakes as he appeared before the commission based on notice served by it. 

Mr Sibal also argued that the confidential statement made by Sreedharan Nair before a court cannot be considered as evidence by the commission.  Mr Chandy moved the court to reject the commission report. The counsel for the government opposed his contention that the Solar Commission report was in violation of norms.  Mr Chandy's contention is not legally tenable, he said.  Justice G Sivarajan, the one-man panel that probed the scandal submitted a 1,073-page report in September 2017, indicting him.