The Kerala High Court on Tuesday directed that the contents of the letter written by Saritha S Nair, the prime accused in the sensational solar scam case, must not be discussed.
The court barred everyone, including the media, from discussing the letter or its contents. The order came after a petition was filed by former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, whose name is also mentioned in the letter.
The petition sought to stop further proceedings based on the Solar Commission report and to bar everyone, including the media, from discussing the contents of the letter.
However, the court didn’t stay the proceedings initiated by the Left Democratic Front government based on the solar scam report.
The court flayed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for issuing a press statement against Chandy based on the findings of the Commission.
The court asked the government how it could reach a conclusion before the trial. The court also said that it’s for the government to protect a person’s image.
Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal represented Chandy in the court. He pointed out that the Commission had listed Saritha Nair’s letter as the main evidence. The High Court will consider the plea again on January 15.
The report was tabled in a special session of the Assembly on November 9.
Even before tabling the report in the Assembly, the government had announced on October 11 that a probe by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau would be conducted against Chandy and a case would be registered against those whose names featured in the letter for receiving sexual favours.
Justice G Sivarajan submitted the report on the scam in the last week of September. In the letter, written in July 2013, Saritha had raised allegations of sexual harassment against several Congress leaders.
Chandy had earlier moved the court seeking to quash the solar scam inquiry commission report. In his latest petition, Chandy said that the judicial commission’s findings were based on Saritha’s letter.