In a major setback to the Congress in Kerala, senior leader and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and his office have been found to be directly involved in the infamous solar scam.
An inquiry commission that probed the scam has found enough reason to suspect the role of Chandy, who will now be proceeded against through a vigilance procedure.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced the decision of a vigilance probe, adding that a criminal case will be charged against former home minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishan for abetting the crime.
The case involves passing of bribe, even smacking of sleaze, by a fraudulent Kochi-based solar company Team Solar Renewable Energy Solutions floated by live-in couple Biju Radhakrishnan and Sarita S Nair.
The Justice G Sivarajan commission was appointed by the previous United Democratic Front (UDF) government led by Ommen Chandy himself to go into the infamous case.
The commission found that not just Chandy, but his home minister and a special investigation team appointed by him, had colluded to suppress the facts of the case and save him from trouble.
The findings of the case have far reaching implications for the career of Oommen Chandy, considered till now among the cleanest politicians in the state, and who is in his late 70s.
The case is thought to have been largely responsible for the drubbing the Congress-led coalition received in the 2016 Assembly elections.
