Kerala Chief Minister refutes allegations of bribe-taking

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Wednesday brushed aside the allegation made by Saritha S. Nair before Solar Inquiry Commission that she had paid a bribe of Rs. 1.90 crore to him through his aide Thomas Kuruvila.

The Chief Minister told the media that Saritha, an accused in the solar scam, had not received any benefits from the government. Nor had the government incurred any loss on account of the scam. There was no failing on the part of the government in taking legal action against the accused who swindled their clients. This disproved the claim of bribe-taking.

Besides, she was making a claim of having paid Rs. 1.90 crore when even a cheque of Rs. 2 lakh given by her company as contribution to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, had bounced, Mr. Chandy said. He also asked why Saritha had not disclosed any of these allegations before either before the Commission or courts before.

Electricity Minister Aryadan Mohammed also refuted the allegation made against him that he had taken Rs. 40 lakh in two installments with the personal assistant Kesavan as the middleman.

Ms. Nair told the Commission that she had handed over Rs. 1.10 crore to Thomas Kuruvila in Delhi after meeting Chief Minister at Vignan Bhavan. Rs. 80 lakh was paid to Mr. Kuruvila at her home. It was Jikkumon, member of the Chief Ministers personnel staff, who had asked her to pay Rs. 7 lakh to the Chief Minister.

She also said that she had met Chief Minister with Mallelil Sreedharan Nair. She had contacts with Chief Minister even before they met at a function at Kadaplamattom near Palai.

The Opposition demanded the resignation of the Chief Minister in view of the allegations. BJP State president Kummanam Rajasekharan demanded that a CBI investigation should be instituted into the scam.