Kerala's solar scam accused convicted in cheating case

The two main accused in the infamous solar scam case were on Thursday sentenced to three years in jail and asked to pay fine totalling Rs.1.20 crore in a cheating case by a court in Pathanamthitta, about 120 km from here.

There were numerous cases of cheating registered against Saritha Nair and her live-in partner Biju Radhakrishnan, who were convicted by the court.

The instant case was filed by non-resident Keralite Babu Raj, who had given Rs.1.15 crore to the two for business purposes. He filed a complaint after they cheated him by forging documents.

While Radhakrishnan was asked to pay Rs.75 lakh, Nair was directed by the court to pay Rs.45 lakh.

Nair and Radhakrishnan are accused of cheating many investors by promising to supply them with solar panels worth millions of rupees.

The Rs.7 crore solar panel scam surfaced in 2013 and rocked the Oommen Chandy government as three of his staff members were found to have links with Nair. The three were sacked by Chandy.

While Nair is out on bail in similar cases, Radhakrishnan is yet to get bail as he is an accused in a murder case as well.

The court, however, allowed time for Nair to file an appeal in a higher court, and she was not arrested.

Nair later told the media that she would file an appeal at the earliest.