Congress MP Shashi Tharoor today urged the media not to rush to a judgment in the Kerala solar panel scam in which some party leaders were indicted by a judicial commission which probed the multi-crore scandal.
Tharoor said "the impression" he got from media reports about the judicial commission report tabled by the government in the state assembly "so far is that these are so far unsubstantiated accusations by one individual."
The former Union minister said if the investigation establishes that there was exploitation of a woman, it is condemnable.
He criticised media's alleged tendency of rushing to reach a conclusion on such issues.
"But right now, I think in all these situations, there is a rush to judgment in the media that is not always fair," Tharoor said.
He said this when asked whether the newly-formed All India Professionals' Congress headed by him could provide protection to women professionals and enterpreneurs from exploitation by politicians in view of the solar panel scam episode.
"I don't intend to answer your question by accepting the presumption that the alleged exploitation (of a woman entrepreneur) actually happened (in the solar episode)," Tharoor said.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP said the state government while tabling the report has only said that there are grounds for investigation.
"There is no conclusion of an investigation and no charge sheet," he said.
In a huge blow to the Opposition Congress-led UDF in Kerala, the judicial commission has indicted former chief minister Oommen Chandy along with his personal office staff in the solar panel scam, holding they all had "assisted" accused Saritha S Nair in "cheating" customers.
The Justice G Sivarajan commission's four-volume 1,073 page report that probed the scam was tabled by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the assembly yesterday at a special session and copies were made available to the media.
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