Following Asianet News’ report on a letter written by solar scam accused Saritha Nair in which she has made allegations of sexual harassment against Kerala CM Oommen Chandy, the CM has now filed for defamation.
On Friday, a criminal defamation complaint was filed with the chief judicial magistrate of Ernakulam in which five people including Saritha Nair have been named.
The complaint alleges that the reason for releasing the letter purportedly written in 2013 just before elections was a clear political conspiracy.
The defamation complaint names MG Radhakrishnan, Editor, Asianet News as first accused and then Vinu V John, senior news anchor, Manoj K Varma, chief news editor, Kairali News and K Rajendran, senior news editor, Kairali News. Saritha has been named as accused number five in the case.
The complaint says:
"Accused 1 and 2 are responsible for the selection and telecasting of news items in Asianet news. Likewise, accursed 3 to 4 are liable for selection and telecasting of news items in Kairali TV channel. Kairali TV channel is the mouth piece of the Communist Party of India which is in the fray for the oncoming electrons. The said party is bent on ensuring the defeat of the political party represented by the complainant. Asianet News Channel is also an un-independent channel which is interested to ensure that the political party represented by the complainant, viz, The Indian National Congress does not win in the oncoming elections. It is with this intention that the first four accused have set up the fifth accused."
The case will come up for hearing on May 28.