Daijiworld Media Network - Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 15: Former aide to late Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Tenny Joppen, on Wednesday claimed he had been falsely implicated in the politically sensitive solar scam to target Chandy, hours after the Kerala High Court allowed his removal from the list of accused in one of the cases linked to the controversy.
The High Court permitted Joppen's name to be deleted from the case filed by businessman Mallely Sreedharan Nair after the complainant informed the court that the dispute had been settled amicably and that he no longer wished to pursue the proceedings against Joppen. The trial in the case had not yet begun.
Welcoming the court's decision, Joppen said the order reaffirmed his long-standing claim that he had been unnecessarily drawn into the case.
He alleged that he was made a "scapegoat" to politically target the late Oommen Chandy. While declining to identify those he believed were responsible, Joppen said those involved were well known and added that he held no personal grudge against them.
Joppen also spoke about his experience during the investigation, alleging that he was assaulted by then senior police officer A. Hemachandran when he appeared for questioning, despite no case having been registered against him at that stage.
Hemachandran, who later retired as Director General of Police (DGP), is currently serving as Special Advisor to Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala.
Joppen, who served as the Personal Assistant to Oommen Chandy, was named as the third accused in the case. His inclusion was based on allegations by Sreedharan Nair that he had pressured the businessman to hand over money to the prime accused, Saritha S. Nair.
His arrest attracted considerable political attention as he was the only person from the then Chief Minister's office to be arrested in connection with the solar scam. The arrest also coincided with the day Oommen Chandy received a United Nations award in Bahrain.
The Kerala solar scam, which surfaced in 2013, involved allegations that Saritha S. Nair and Biju Radhakrishnan defrauded investors by promising high-return solar energy projects while allegedly using fabricated political links to gain credibility.
The controversy evolved into one of Kerala's biggest political scandals, with allegations being levelled against several prominent political leaders, including then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
In 2022, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) closed the sexual assault allegations connected to the case, giving Oommen Chandy and the other accused a clean chit.
The High Court's latest order marks another significant development in the prolonged legal proceedings surrounding the solar scam, a case that remained a major political issue and was repeatedly highlighted by the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front during the 2016 and 2021 Kerala Assembly election campaigns.