Pinarayi Vijayan's government has ordered a probe against former Kerala CM Oommen Chandy in the solar scam.Thiruvananthapuram: The solar scam has been a hot potato for the United Democratic Font (UDF) ever since allegations of corruption and nepotism related to a shady solar power installation firm cropped up against senior leaders including former chief minister Oommen Chandy.
The lengthy probe into the allegations have come to an end on September 26, three-and-a-half years after a judicial commission was set up. The justice G. Sivarajan commission has gone through reams of video, audio and paper records to come to a conclusion.
Two weeks after the commission submitted the report, the Pinarayi government on October 11 decided to initiate a criminal and vigilance probe against former CM Oommen Chandy and his ex-cabinet colleagues Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Aryadan Mohammed and former Congress legislators Thampanoor Ravi and Benny Behanan.
A recap of the investigation into the most high-profile scams of recent history.
• August 12, 2013: The opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) organizes a massive protest around the state secretariat to press for the chief ministers resignation and the appointment of a judicial commission.
• August 13: Chandy agrees to appoint a judicial commission and the opposition withdraws the agitation.
• October 23: The government appoints justice G. Sivarajan, a retired judge of the Kerala High Court, to head the probe commission after the high court refuses to spare a sitting judge. The commission's briefing is to probe the solar deals from 2005 within 6 months. The commission's term was extended eight times.
• March 3, 2014: The commission starts work.
• January 12, 2015: The commission starts the examination of witnesses, including Sajad from Perumbavoor and Abdul Majeed from Kozhikode.
• December 10: One of the accused, Biju Radhakrishnan, tells the commission that he possessed four sets of copies of a CD related to the case. He said that one of the sets was abroad and the other with the police team which arrested him in Coimbatore. He said he could access another copy if he were let to travel to a place just 6 hours from Ernakulam. The investigation team escorts Radhakrishnan to Coimbatore but fails to recover any device.
• December 11: The UDF decides to strike back. They accuse the opposition of targeting the chief minister only on the words of a criminal who had killed his wife. The alliance takes out rallies in all constituencies in the state.
• January 12, 2016: The commission pulls up Saritha S. Nair for not appearing before it. The accused had tried to stay away from the hearing for four times.
• January 26: The commission records the statement of Chandy for about 13 hours in the Government Guest House at Thycaud in Thiruvananthapuram. The hearing started at 10:45 am and went on until 1:15 pm. The cross examination by the parties in the case started after lunch recess and went on till late night. Chandy again appeared before the commission after he was voted out of power in May 2016.
• May 11: Saritha says she would hand over 'shocking' evidences to the commission.
• May 13: Saritha hands over digital evidences to the commission and tells the media that they were against the ministers.
• February 15, 2017: The commission winds up hearing.
• July 19: The commission's tenure extended for two months after the commission seeks more time to prepare the report.
• September 26: The commission submits the report.
• October 11: Kerala govt orders Vigilance probe against Oommen Chandy
• November 9: Solar Commission report tabled in Kerala Assembly, CM Pinarayi says Oommen Chandy guilty
Read more Kerala news | Biju, Saritha misused Chandy's office: solar probe report
