Kerala HC Issues Notice to Congress Leader Venugopal on Sexual Assault Victim’s Plea

The Kerala High Court has issued a notice to All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K C Venugopal in response to a revision petition filed by the victim of a rape case challenging a magistrate court’s acceptance of the CBI’s closure report.

The high court issued the notice during the hearing of the petition filed by the victim. In her plea, the victim, who is a prime accused in the solar panel scam, contested the court’s decision to accept the CBI’s closure report, which cleared the Congress leader of sexual assault allegations.

The victim contended that the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Thiruvananthapuram had accepted the closure report despite her objections in a previous petition. She had pointed out in her plea before the magistrate court that all the evidence gathered in the CBI investigation supported her case and highlighted the investigative flaws.

The woman alleged that the court dismissed her petition without providing a valid and legally sustainable reason. In her revision petition filed with the high court, she stated, “From the materials presented by the CBI to the jurisdictional court, it can be seen that many witnesses provided statements indicating that both the accused and the victim were present at the Rose House on May 24, 2012, at 4:30 PM.”

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had absolved all six accused, including Venugopal and former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, of the sexual exploitation allegations made by the woman. The CBI also submitted another referral report in court, clearing BJP leader A P Abdullakutty of similar allegations by the woman, who is the prime accused in the high-profile solar scam that shook the southern state nearly a decade ago during the Congress-led government’s tenure.

The case against Abdullakutty was initiated in 2014 when he was a Congress MLA from Kannur, and he later joined the BJP. The CBI also submitted referral reports clearing three other Congress leaders, including Lok Sabha MPs Adoor Prakash and Hibi Eden, and MLA A P Anil Kumar, who were accused in the sexual exploitation case filed by the woman.