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Solar case: Court cancels bails of two key accused
The case surfaced in 2014 and 60 cases were registered against Nair and her husband, of which they have been convicted in four and were currently out on bail.
A local court in Kozhikode cancelled on Thursday the bail granted to two key accused in the solar panel fraud case — Saritha Nair and her husband Biju Radhakrishnan — after they failed to appear before it. Ordering their arrest, the court scheduled the next hearing on February 25.
The case centres around a fictitious solar energy company called Team Solar formed in 2013 allegedly by Saritha Nair and Radhakrishnan, who boasted of their contacts with the chief minister’s office, and cheated people out of money by seeking investments with the promise of making them business partners or offering to install solar power units. Radhakrishnan was also named accused in a murder case.
The case surfaced in 2014 and 60 cases were registered against Nair and her husband, of which they have been convicted in four and were currently out on bail. Oommen Chandy, the then chief minister of Kerala, sacked two of his private secretaries and the state public relations director when their names cropped up in the case.
Nair has also accused many Congress leaders, including Chandy, of sexually harassing her. This case was handed over to the CBI last month by the Pinarayi Vijayan Government.
On Thursday, the court was hearing a case filed by businessman Abdul Majeed with the Kasaba police in 2012, who has accused the two of taking ₹42.70 lakh from him for providing franchise in their company besides installing solar panels in his office and house. But neither the contract was executed nor money refunded, the complainant stated.
Biju Radhakrishanan and Saritha are the first and second accused respectively in the case, trial of which began on January 25, 2018. As many as 36 witnesses were examined during the trial that concluded in October 2018.
On January 25, just months ahead of assembly elections due to take place in the state, the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government in the state handed over a probe into the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The decision triggered massive protests by the Opposition Congress, which called the move politically motivated.The party said it will deal with it legally and politically. The government also constituted a judicial commission to probe the case.
