Solar scam: Oommen Chandy denies calling Saritha S Nair

Kochi: Former chief minister Oommen Chandy on Friday denied the allegations levelled by his former gunman Salim Raj that he had spoken to conwoman Saritha S. Nair over Salim's phone. Mr Chandy, who  deposed  before the solar judicial commission, rejected  the allegation that he had demanded a bribe of Rs 7 crore from a businessman for some favours. “I have never asked for money from any person in return for  any favour or help during my public life spanning over 50 years,” he said.

He submitted that the duty hours of Salim Raj and the timings of the calls to the telephone of Saritha  would prove that the allegations were  wrong. It could be seen that most of the calls were made by Mr. Raj when he was not on duty, he submitted.   He  also denied the statements and telephonic conversations of some of the witnesses, including scam-accused Saritha and Biju Radhakrishnan and his former personal aides Jikkumon Jacob and Tenny Joppan.

Mr Chandy also denied the statements of Saritha  that  he had spoken to her using the telephones of his personal aides. Mr. Joppan was a clerk in the office and he never used to accompany the chief minister during his travels, he said. He added that the LDF government decided to continue with the investigation team constituted by his government. This proved that the probe was in the right direction, he said.

“Even after seven months, the LDF government has not made any changes to the probe team or the course of investigation. The appointment of the Special Investigation Team  for the probe was widely appreciated, said Mr Chandy. He  appeared before the commission at 11 a.m. and  was at the commission till late in the day. The commission will continue his cross-examination on January 12.