Kerala Forest Minister AK Saseendran, who figured in a controversy after an alleged phone conversation with a member of his Nationalist Congress Party surfaced, was given a clean chit after a probe by the police on August 25, Wednesday. In the conversation, Saseendran seemingly asks the latter to "amicably settle a case" involving his daughter's alleged sexual harassment by another party leader in Kollam. The issue had figured in the headlines with the Congress-led opposition raking it up both inside and outside the Assembly.
After going through the audio clip of the phone conversation, the government counsel who first studied the matter, had to take recourse to the English lexicon and get the exact words translated. The counsel later concluded there was nothing which Sasendran spoke that hurt sentiments. Local police officials who also conducted a detailed probe, said that there was nothing which the minister said, which would invite action, stating he had used the word ‘amicable’ and his tone and tenor in the audio clip was not threatening.
Incidentally, the Kerala Lok Ayukta had recently dismissed a petition in this regard and gave the minister a clean chit. As the issue came to light, the Congress and the BJP had demanded his resignation and a probe. NCP state president PC Chacko, a former top Congress leader, had also backed Saseendran. In March 2017, Saseendran, who was also a minister in the first Pinarayi Vijayan government, had to quit following the release of a "sleaze talk" tape with a woman. However, he later returned after a court cleared him.