6 years imprisonment: Solar scam accused Saritha Nair in cheating case

A court in Kochi sentenced con-woman Saritha S Nair to six years in prison in a cheating case related to the solar panel scam that rocked Kerala during the previous Congress-led UDF rule, on Tuesday. Reportedly, Saritha Nair was the second accused in the notorious scam case.

Judicial First Class Magistrate-III K Nimmi acquitted the third accused, B Manimon, while the verdict of the first accused, Biju Radhakrishnan, was put on hold for later pronouncement because he had applied for leave to be quarantined.

The court sentenced the defendant to jail for four separate offences, including fraud.

And a Rs 10,000 fine has been imposed on four offences totalling Rs 40,000.

The investigating officer arrested Saritha from her residence in Thiruvananthapuram last week, acting on a court-issued warrant, and she was remanded to judicial custody after being brought to Kozhikode.

She was served with the warrant after she failed to appear in court. As per a police complaint filed in 2012 by Kozhikode resident Abdul Majeed, the two accused — Nair and Biju Radhakrishnan — took Rs 42.70 lakhs from him for having a franchise in their business as well as installing solar panels in his office and house.

However, neither the contract nor the money is fully met, according to the claimant.

The trial court was supposed to issue the judgement in February, but since the accused did not appear, the date had to be rescheduled. The trial of Biju Radhakrishanan and Saritha Nair, the first and second accused in the case, started on January 25, 2018.

Saritha S Nair and her accomplice Biju Radhakrishnan defrauded many people out of crores of rupees by promising to instal solar panels and offering franchises and jobs through their venture, Team Solar Renewable Energy Solutions Company.