Kerala cabinet approves judicial probe into solar scam

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala cabinet today formally decided to hold a judicial probe by a sitting High Court judge into the solar panel scam, that has brought the Chief Minister's office under a cloud.

Addressing a press conference after a cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the terms of reference of the probe would be finalised after receiving suggestions from the CPI-M led LDF Opposition.

On the LDF demand to include the CM's office into the purview of the probe, Chandy said, "Government has nothing to hide on the issue and has an open mind."

However, he refused to gave a direct answer on whether government was ready to include the Chief Minister's office also under its purview.

The solar scam that has rocked the state for the past two months led to a two day siege of the government secretariat by LDF workers from August 12, demanding the resignation of Chandy and a judicial probe into the scam.

LDF called off the siege after Chandy announced government's willingness to hold a judicial probe by a sitting High Court judge, but had vowed to continue with their agitation till Chandy resigned.

The scam is connected to cheating of many people by accused Biju Radhakrishnan and Saritha Nair, both under arrest, by offering clients solar energy solutions. They allegedly flaunted their clout with the CM's office to dupe unsuspecting clients of huge sums.

It took a political turn after the arrest of a personal assistant of Chandy for his alleged links with the accused. A gunman of the Chief Minister was also suspended for his alleged association with the fraudsters.

LDF has alleged that such a huge scam would not have taken place without the collusion of the Chief Minister.

Seizing on the issue, LDF has been staging various modes of protests across the state for the last two months.