Hemachandran, who had moved on as fire force chief, said in January that a criminal investigation’s merits could only be evaluated in a court of law, not in a commission of inquiry. Thiruvananthapuram: The judicial commission that probed the solar scam in Kerala came down heavily on the special investigation team after team leader A Hemachandran criticized the commission in an affidavit dated January 8. The director general of police had alleged that the commission was eager to find fault with the police by raising misleading questions and covering up relevant information.
Justice (retired) G. Sivarajan, appointed by the government to probe the scam which tainted former chief minister Oommen Chandy and his office, did not take note of Hemachandran’s replies on questions about Chandy’s involvement, if the note the government had put out after receiving the report is any indication. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters that the commission has found that the SIT tried to let Chandy off the hook in the case.
Hemachandran, who had moved on as fire force chief, said in January that a criminal investigation’s merits could only be evaluated in a court of law, not in a commission of inquiry. He suggested that the commission was stepping beyond its brief and he had pointed this out to the government.
The commission’s terms of reference is mainly the solar scam and related financial transactions, Hemachandran said. He said he and other officers in the team had appeared multiple times before the commission to help with the inquiry but they were faced with a trial into the investigations into criminal cases.
Many witnesses were summoned by the commission two or three years after they had testified before the police, Hemachandran said, explaining the discrepancies in testimonials. The commission tried to persuade the investigating officers to admit that the original statements were wrong and only those statements made before the commission were right. The commission deviated from the basic principle that a criminal investigation was the prerogative of the investigating officer.
The commission was trying to mislead by focusing on unimportant matters to point a finger towards the police and the criminal investigation, while it was supposed to collect evidence related to the allegations of financial transactions. The commission did not bother to seek a justification from Chandy’s staff member Salim Raj even after he gave conflicting statements.
The commission’s observations about the investigation into the cases pending before various courts were unconstitutional and unjust, Hemachandran said in the affidavit.
He said that the special investigation team was only responsible for the probe of 33 criminal cases, as briefed in the police chief’s order. If the team was supposed to probe anything else, the government would have issued a separate order.
The team started its work in June 2013. A report on the immoral behavior of some members of the chief minister’s staff was submitted to the government and the police chief within a week. The report was based on an obscene call between Chandy’s gunman Salim Raj and Saritha Nair, who was at the center of the scam. Salim Raj was suspended and Jikkumon Jacob was suspended from the staff after the report was submitted.
The investigation team went through the call records of all parties before submitting the report. Charge sheets were submitted in all 33 cases within six months. Saritha Nair was convicted in two cases and the court had commended the investigating officers. Trial is progressing in the other cases.
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