IANS/Thiruvananthapuram

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien yesterday said police and the Supreme Court had exonerated him of involvement in the 1996 Suryanelli rape case, and asserted that he was innocent in the eyes of God too.

“Please note that I have been cleared by three different police investigation teams; besides the apex court exonerated me and the final discharge in the case following a private petition filed by the victim came from the Kerala High Court. In the eyes of God also I have done no wrong,” Kurien said.

The horrific case in Suryanelli in Kerala’s Idukki district took place in January 1996 when a 16-year-old was threatened, abducted and abused by a bus conductor. She was brutally sexually assaulted for 45 days by 42 men. The victim had named Kurien as among those who exploited her.

The case is back in the spotlight after the Supreme Court on January 31 ordered a retrial, setting aside the acquittal in 2005 by the Kerala High Court of all but one of the 35 accused.

Exuding calm and confidence in the face of an aggressive opposition, the Congress leader said at the government guesthouse here that it was all about politics.

“My name surfaced ahead of the then Lok Sabha election; and then at the next election came the girl’s private complaint. Hence, there is no doubt that it is just nothing but politics.”

He added that he had not proceeded with the defamation case that he had won. The case had named then chief minister E K Nayanar and the victim.

“I did not go ahead with it because by then Nayanar had passed away. If I wanted, I could have sought compensation from the girl for maligning me. I did not do it.

“If I had gone ahead with it, then this present round of media bashing would not have happened,” he said.

“In my discharge granted by the Kerala High Court, it asks who will compensate me for tribulation that I have been subjected to for almost a decade.

“While the prosecution (then Left government in 2007) was arguing against me, the police investigation report gave me a clean chit. I am happy my party is fully with me because they know the entire case,” Kurien added.

In New Delhi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari rebuffed demands for reopening the probe and wondered if the move would be “prudent” since the Supreme Court had cleared the Rajya Sabha deputy chairman.

Tewari said Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had answered demands from the Kerala opposition, led by former chief minister V S Achuthanandan, “very succinctly” by refusing a probe.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram had said the central government had nothing more to say on the subject, apart from Chandy’s statement.

“The issue has been conclusively adjudicated by the Supreme Court, and after the Supreme Court, is it prudent for us to reopen the investigation? Where is it going to leave the ethos of law is something that needs to be introspected upon,” Tewari said.