Solar scam sexual assault case: CBI gives clean chit to former Kerala CM Oommen Chandy

The CBI has given a clean chit to former chief minister Oommen Chandy in a sexual assault case in connection with the sensational Solar scam. BJP National vice-president AP Abdullakutty, another of the accused, has also been given a clean chit. With this, the CBI has found all accused innocent in the case registered in 2013.

The CBI submitted its report before the Chief Judicial Magistrate court Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday. The CBI sleuths informed the CJM court that there was no evidence to prove the charges levelled against Oommen Chandy.

The then chief minister was not present at Cliff House (the official residence of the Chief Minister) on the day of the crime, as alleged by the complainant. The report added that there were discrepancies in the complainant's statements.

The complainant had raised allegations against AP Abdullakutty, then a Congress leader. He was named by the complainant along with many other top leaders of the then-ruling UDF government. As per the allegations against Abdullakutty, he had raped the complainant at Mascot Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram. This was the first case registered based on her complaint. The CBI, however, informed the court that there was no evidence to prove this allegation as well.

Five days ago, the CBI had given clean-chit to AICC general secretary KC Venugopal in the case. The CBI had stated before the court that there was a lack of evidence to support the complainant’s allegations. While the two had met on various occasions, there was no proof to substantiate her claims.

The complainant woman, who was earlier arraigned in a slew of cheating cases, had levelled rape and sexual harassment complaints against Oommen Chandy, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, Congress legislator A P Anil Kumar, Congress MPs Hibi Eden and Adoor Prakash, and BJP national vice-president A P Abdullakutty. The sections pertaining to financial exploitation, corruption, and harassment of women have been levelled against the accused.

The case was first probed by the Crime Branch, which registered FIRs against the accused. On February 24, 2021, the state government turned over the cases to the CBI. The Crime Branch had also given a report to the state government saying that they could not find any evidence to implicate Chandy in the case.

The UDF had alleged that the transfer of the case to the CBI was a politically-motivated move.

The Thiruvananthapuram unit of the CBI had also given an objection report to New Delhi, recommending that the case should not be taken up owing to a lack of evidence as well as concerns over the brevity of the complaint. However, the report was overlooked by the top bosses, resulting in the registration of the FIRs.