Vigilance judge seeks permission to take voluntary retirement

THRISSUR: Hours after Kerala High Court stayed his order to register FIR against Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and power minister Aryadan Mohammed in the solar scam, and made strong observations against him, Special Judge S S Vassan today sought permission to take voluntary retirement.

Vassan has sent a request to the High Court Registrar seeking permission to undertake voluntary retirement, court sources told PTI.

The High Court today stayed the Vigilance court order directing to register an FIR against Chandy and Mohammed and observed that "judge had acted mechanically without knowing the nature and extend of his powers".

The court had also directed the administrative section to consider action against Vassan observing that "the Vigilance Court suffers jurisdiction errors."

Vassan in his order had yesterday also observed that "every one is equal before law, be it a village man or a Chief Minister".

The vigilance court's order was on the basis of a complaint filed by one P D Joseph following the serious allegations made by solar scam accused Saritha S Nair that bribe amount of Rs 1.90 crore had been paid to Chandy and Rs 40 lakh to Mohammed for getting favourable decisions for the fraudulent solar company.

The order had kicked up a political storm in the state with CPI(M) led LDF opposition launching agitation demanding Chandy's resignation.