Kollam: A statement made by former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in court, saying that Ganesh Kumar, MLA, had maintained a distance from him over his non-reinduction into the Cabinet after he resigned his ministership due to a petition filed by his wife against him, is made public.
Oommen Chandy made this statement in the First Class Judicial Magistrate Court, Kottarakkara, on August 3, 2018, in a petition filed by Congress leader Sudheer Jacob. The petition alleged that four pages were added to the 21-page letter written by the woman complainant from the district jail in Kottarakkara, making it a 25-page letter, before submitting it to the judicial commission.
It added that there was a conspiracy in the episode. Although the court issued summonses to Ganesh Kumar and the woman complainant, the proceedings were suspended after the two approached the High Court.
The full version of Oommen Chandy’s statement in the First Class Magistrate Court in Kottarakkara:
"The Cabinet in which I was the Chief Minister took charge on May 18, 2011. K B Ganesh Kumar was also a member of the Cabinet. He was in charge of the Forestry and Environmental Affairs department. After the police registered a case on the basis of a petition filed over a family issue, the opposition mounted severe pressure for his resignation. And he resigned. After the problem was settled through a compromise, he expressed his desire to return to the Cabinet.
"But owing to many reasons, it did not take place. From that time on, he maintained a distance from me. I received complaints that the woman complainant and Biju Radhakrishnan had swindled money from many people by falsely promising to install solar panels and windmills. Since the complaints came from many districts, it was decided to form a special investigation team to probe the cases. The team investigated the cases and registered several cases against them. A judicial commission was appointed, taking into account the opposition’s demand.”
"On June 6, 2016, a letter was submitted to the commission stating that it was from the accused in the solar cheating case (the complainant), who was lodged in the district jail in Pathanamthitta, and that it was written on July 19, 2013. It was on the basis of this letter that the commission made some remarks about me and some other public figures. I filed a case against this in the High Court. The court passed its verdict on May 15, 2018. In compliance with the verdict, the commission expunged the remarks against me and the public figures."
