Kochi: In a new twist in the solar scam, the prime accused in the case today accused Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and his cabinet colleague Arayadan Mohammed of accepting bribe, a charge both denied.
Deposing before the Justice Sivarajan Commission probing the alleged scam in Kochi, prime accused Saritha S Nair alleged that Rs 1.90 crore had been given to Chandy’s key aide for facilitating setting up mega solar projects in the state.
She also alleged she had paid a bribe of Rs 40 lakh to the PA of Power Minister Aryadan Muhammed.
Chandy denied the charges saying it was “an attempt by Saritha to wriggle out” of the case.
“Let her state what benefit she got after bribing us,” Chandy told reporters in Thiruvanthapuram. The cheques Saritha had handed over for relief fund had also bounced, he said.
“I have not helped her in any way. The Commission will come out with all the truth. Saritha was given a lot of opportunties to tell her version,” Chandy who had deposed before the commission for a marathon 14 hours in Thiruvananthapuram on January 25, said.
Saritha alleged that Chandy’s former PA Jikkumon, who had sought Rs seven crore as bribe, had insisted that the money meant for Chandy be handed over to one Thomas Kuruvilla in Delhi. Kuruvilla was claimed to be Chandy’s unofficial aide.
“I handed over Rs 1.10 crore to Kuruvilla at the parking ground of a shopping mall in Chandni Chowk,” she told the Commission, two days after Chandy deposed before it.
Saritha said she had met the CM on Dec 27, 2012 at Vigyan Bhawan when he was about to leave for the airport after attending a meeting of the National Development Council.
It was Kuruvilla who facilitated the meeting with the Chief Minister outside Vigyan Bhawan, Saritha claimed.
“He (the Chief Minister) asked me how are things? I told him money is with me. He told me to contact Kuruvilla and said he did not wait for the (NDC) meeting to conclude and was leaving for airport a bit early to catch the flight (to Kerala),” Saritha told the Commission. .
PTI
