Kerala CM Oommen Chandy files defamation case against Saritha

Kochi: Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday filed a criminal defamation case against solar panel scam accused Saritha S Nair at a court here, complaining that she hatched a conspiracy to defame him by airing a news item in the media to the effect that he raped her.

Chandy has also filed defamation case against four senior editors of two Malayalam news channels alongwith Saritha for airing the news on April 3 and April 4, this year.

The complaint filed before Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Ernakulam, said they released a "truncated letter (allegedly written by her while she was in judicial incarceration) wherein it is stated that she was raped by the complainant in his official residence--Cliff House, Thiruvananthapuram."

"Commonsense fails to comprehend as to how such an incident can occur in the Cliff House, where the complainant is residing with his family, and several security guards," the complaint said.

Saritha had in a purported letter aired by TV channels alleged that she was sexually abused by Chandy, who had dismissed the charge as "totally baseless" and claimed it was a conspiracy.

The local news channels had released the 25-page letter which Saritha had allegedly written in 2013 while she was in custody following her arrest in the solar scam.

Saritha had told a TV channel that she had written the letter while she was in custody.

In his complaint, the senior Congress leader said enquiries made by him thereafter revealed that the respective letter was a "newly drafted one made at the instance of the adversaries of the complainant" to tarnish his image and reputation and "to ensure that the political party represented by him meets with defeat" in the May 16 state assembly polls.

The complaint said Saritha, who has a penchant for giving public interviews, has only referred to him (Chandy) as "a person with a fatherly affection" and she never had a case that the complainant had "behaved in an indecent manner to her on any occasion."

Chandy urged the Court to take cognisance of the complaint and proceed against them as per IPC sections dealing with defamation and criminal conspiracy.