With the solar panel scam continuing to haunt the Congress-led UDF Government in Kerala, fresh allegations have surfarced that efforts had been made to spare names of some Congress leaders being named by accused Saritha Nair in the complaint to be given to the court.
A Malayalam television channel aired telephonic talks purportedly made by a Congress minister with a middleman, voicing concern over the difficulties that could crop up in the way of their move.
The development assumed significance as it came close on the heels of the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Kochi rejecting the plea of Saritha's lawyer for getting the complaint from the accused lodged in a sub-jail here.
The court directed Saritha to file complaint herself "uninfluenced by others" and send it through the prison Superintendent by the month end.
Reacting to the report, leaders of opposition parties alleged that this exposed attempts to sabotage the case to spare Congress leaders, including ministers, from ignominy.
Senior CPI(M) leader T M Thomas Isaac said this was a very serious allegation and Home Minister Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan owed an explanation to the people since the attempt was to meddle in the case by establishing contacts with an accused remanded in a jail.
BJP state general secretary K Surenderan said the crux of the charge was that a businessman acted as a link for two ministers in the cabinet and this could only be seen as a nefarious effort to sabotage the case and the rule of law.
