Kerala solar scam bounces back to limelight with new RTI info

Thiruvananthapuram: The infamous solar power scam in Kerala that has seriously threatened the future of the Congress-led United Democratic Front government has bounced back into the limelight with a fresh revelation got through the Right to Information route. The development comes just as the Oommen Chandy government was breathing easy after agreeing to a judicial inquiry into the scam.

According to new information, one of the key perpetrators of the solar scam Saritha S. Nair had prepared a 21-page petition believed to contain the names of several high-profile people in police custody and not in jail as was earlier thought.

Responding to the RTI query, the Pathanamthitta jail superintendent has said that when Nair came back from police custody to jail she already had the document with her. Responding to anther question he has responded that no paper was provided to Nair in jail to prepare her petition.

Bharatiya Janata Party state president K Surendran who had earlier alleged that the four-page statement from Nair that was submitted in place of the 21-page original document was manipulated, said today that the RTI information “shatters” the defence of the state government .

The solar scam is the most talked about scam in the state for nearly three months, which has drawn into its web a number of officials including the chief minister’s personal assistant Tenny Joppan and the state public relations director A Firoze. Both have been suspended from service.

The solar scam was primarily the handiwork of Biju Radhakrishnan and Saritha S Nair who allegedly duped several investors in the state into parting with large sums of money promising them hefty returns through investments in the solar and wind power sectors.

Following the RT revelation there is strong speculation in political and media circles about the likely names that appear in Nair’s original 21-page statement. The focus also shifts to the police officers in charge when Nair prepared her original statement and the whereabouts of the statement itself.