THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/KOCHI: NCP leader A.K. Saseendran will be sworn in as minister here on Thursday. He will be admitted the oath of office and secrecy by Governor P. Sathasivam at 5 pm in Raj Bhavan premises.
Meanwhile, a petition filed in the High court challenging lower court order quashing the phone sleaze talk case against him led to speculations in political circles. The HC will consider the plea on Thursday.
Mahalakshmi who had earlier filed a petition before CJM court in Thiruvanathapuram against the closure of the case, is behind the petition in the HC. The petitioner has contended that Saseendran is a well known public figure and treatment of cases against such persons in this manner would lead to a wrong precedent.
The petitioner has also pointed to the contradictions in the statement given by the woman in the court. The second statement was different from the first one. The lower court has closed the case without following the legal procedure. The woman also pointed out that as the mother of a girl she is concerned about the closure of the case in this manner.
The NCP national executive on Monday had taken a decision on granting Cabinet berth to Saseendran. The CJM court on Saturday had acquitted Saseendran in the phone sleaze talk case and scrapped the case, setting the stage for his return to LDF Cabinet after a gap of 11 months.
The petition filed by an ex-channel reporter stating that she had no complaint against the former minister was accepted by the court while scrapping the case. The lady had submitted a petition before the court recently stating that she could not recollect whether the person who had sleaze talk with her was actually the former transport minister.
It may be recalled that Saseendran had resigned on March 27 , 2017 after an audio clip of a sexually explicit conversation, allegedly between him and a woman was aired by a local TV channel.
