Thiruvananthapuram: The solar case complainant's former lawyer Feni Balakrishnan on Wednesday said that former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy's name was not in the first draft of the petition and was later added as advised by Sharanya Manoj, a relative of MLA Ganesh Kumar.
He said Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani's name was also not in the original complaint. "The complainant had stated in the first draft that Ganesh Kumar had abused her. However, this was done away with later," he said.
Feni claimed that the complainant gave her a draft first and not the letter.
"The 21-page petition was handed over to me at the Pathanamthitta sub-jail. The jail records mention that it was a 21-page petition. The petition was submitted to Ganesh Kumar's personal assistant Pradeep as instructed by the complainant. She said Pradeep would come to the sub-jail. I read the petition while going to Thiruvananthapuram with Pradeep. Neither Oommen Chandy nor Jose K Mani were mentioned in the complaint. Sharanya Manoj and Pradeep were worried about Ganesh's name in the petition," said Feni.
According to him, the complainant stayed at Sharanya Manoj's house for six months after leaving jail.
"Manoj told me that the complainant would be holding a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram as per Ganesh's instructions. He then gave me the letter to read. This time, the complaint included the names of Oommen Chandy and Jose K Mani. More pages were included in the complainant's handwriting.
"When I objected to adding names to the complaint, Manoj said it was done on Ganesh's advice. He said 'because sir (Ganesh) couldn't become a minister, he wants to bring the chief minister down somehow'," said Feni.
According to Feni, Sharanya Manoj and Pradeep were the masterminds behind naming the late Congress leader. "The parties took advantage of the sexual allegations of the complainant," he added.
He said other politicians had also approached him. "LDF convener E P Jayarajan met me. Saji Cheriyan came to my house. Vellappilly Nadesan asked me to name some of the accused," said Feni.
The complainant's petition was later reduced to four pages. Controversial middleman Nandakumar entered the scene as instructed by Ganesh, Feni said.
In an interview, Sharanya Manoj had said that the complaint was amended on Ganesh's direction.
Feni said he has given this information to the CBI as well.
