Kerala High Court raps CM Pinarayi Vijayan, puts gag on solar report discussions

KOCHI: The High Court on Tuesday imposed a ban on any public discussion, including in the media, on the content of the letter submitted by Saritha S. Nair before the solar commission for the next two months. The order was issued on a petition filed by former chief minister Oommen Chandy. The court, however, declined to grant a stay on all further proceedings by the state government in connection with the commission report as pleaded by the former CM.

The court also rapped chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan for releasing an official statement before the completion of the further proceedings in the commission report. It observed orally that issuing a release was inappropriate and said the government has the responsibility to protect the personal image of individuals. Things should not proceed in the direction of destroying the reputation of individuals, it said.

Appearing for Mr Chandy, Mr Kapil Sibal pointed out that the commission itself had mentioned that the content of the letter was only in the nature of allegations and the same cannot be allowed to be discussed in public. He also said that the allegations in the letter were defamatory to the reputation of Mr Chandy. Although the counsel for the government sought to defer the hearing to Wednesday, the court rejected it and proceeded with the hearing. The court asked the former CM about the delay in questioning the content of the solar report if he had objections in the matter. The case was posted for next hearing on January 15.