Kerala HC dismisses MLA Ganesh Kumar’s plea on case against him for ‘conspiracy’ to implicate Oommen Chandy in sexual assault charge

The case was registered against the MLA Kumar after Congress activist and advocate Sudheer Jacob moved the Kottarakara First Class Judicial Magistrate Court.

Jacob had alleged that Kumar and others had produced a “forged letter” before the Solar Enquiry Commission purportedly written by the prime accused in the solar cheating case, raising sexual assault charges against Chandy.

Related: As solar scam makes comeback, woes mount for Ganesh Kumar

Continuation of the case necessary

The high court noted that the magistrate had taken cognisance of the offence after going through the sworn statements of the witnesses.

“The former chief minister has passed away. Such an allegation should not be in the air because his soul will not forgive the same,” Justice Kunhikrishnan said in an order on Friday, 27 October.

“The continuation of this case is necessary not only for the soul of the former chief minister and his bereaved family but also to prove the integrity of the petitioner too. Let the soul of our former chief minister rest in peace,” the order said.

The court also said that if such an allegation against the petitioner (Kumar) who is a Member of the Legislative Assembly is incorrect, then he can take appropriate steps for malicious prosecution against the complainant.

“I am of the opinion that this case is to proceed and should arrive at a logical conclusion for the interest of the soul of the former chief minister and if the allegations are wrong, it will prove the integrity of the petitioner, who is a Member of the Legislative Assembly, a known politician,” the order read.

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CBI report

The Thiruvananthapuram unit of the CBI filed its investigation report in court earlier, giving a clean chit to Oommen Chandy, saying there was no evidence he abused the main accused in the solar scam case.

However, the report contained damaging references to Ganesh Kumar, his former party colleague C Manoj Kumar, and Nandakumar, a Kochi-based controversial “middleman”, whose whereabouts are not known.

According to the CBI, the name of the former chief minister did not figure in the original complaint drafted by the prime accused in the case implicating UDF leaders in the alleged sexual abuse case. The prime accused was in remand custody for financial fraud when she drafted the complaint.

The CBI said the name of the former chief minister was interpolated into the complaint later.

The CBI — which exonerated Oommen Chandy in the sexual assault case filed against him — had informed the chief judicial magistrate court in Thiruvananthapuram that the scam and related allegations were part of a larger conspiracy hatched by Ganesh Kumar, his party’s former general secretary Manoj Kumar alias Saranya Manoj Kumar, and a controversial middleman who acted on behalf of the prime accused.

Their larger objective was to defame the Chandy government and help the CPI(M)-led LDF to wrest back power, according to the CBI documents furnished in court.

The CBI move comes at a time when his continued membership in the LDF as a junior constituent is hanging in the balance. A well-known actor, he is a five-time MLA from the Pathanapuram segment.

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Political ambitions of Ganesh Kumar

The LDF leadership, especially Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, remains non-committal about an earlier promise to Ganesh Kumar that he would be inducted into the state Cabinet once the government completed half its five-year term — which will be in November.

As there are restrictions to accommodate more than 21 members in the cabinet, the LDF had in 2021 decided to share the ministerial berths with four of its allies having a single MLA, on a term basis.

Kumar is expected to be inducted into the Cabinet in the second phase.

On his part, Kumar had been sensing trouble for quite some time, and his close associates confirmed to South First that he has been preparing to switch back to the Congress-led Opposition UDF ever since the death of Oommen Chandy — whom he praised as an epitome of virtue when he died.

He has also praised some other state leaders of the Congress and exchanged pleasantries with them during campaign breaks in the Puthuppally Assembly bypoll. Some Congress state leaders have also made statements welcoming him back to the UDF

Congress demands not to include Kumar

Meanwhile, Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly VD Satheesan on Friday, 27 October, asked the Left Front not to include Kumar, a Kerala Congress (B) leader and an ally of the ruling LDF, in the state cabinet.

Satheesan, in a statement, said the high court has said that Kumar should face the trial in a case connected to falsely implicating Chandy.

State Congress chief K Sudhakaran, meanwhile, welcomed the high court order and said it was a pathway to justice for Chandy who had been “hunted” in the case.

Sudhakaran also demanded that Kumar not be made a minister in the state cabinet.

(With PTI inputs)