In a relief to former chief minister and veteran CPI-M leader VS Achuthanandan, the Thiruvananthapuram district court, on Thursday, stayed a lower court’s order asking him to pay Rs 10.10 lakh as compensation to another former chief minister, Oommen Chandy, in a defamation case
The principal sub court in Thiruvananthapuram in January this year ordered CPI-M veteran VS Achuthanandan to pay Rs 10.10 lakh as compensation in a solar scam-related defamation case filed by senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy.
The case was filed in 2014 after Achuthanandan alleged in a TV interview that Chandy, who was then chief minister of Kerala, had floated a company to fleece money in the name of solar power production.
Three people had testified before the court in total in connection with the case, but Achuthanandan did not turn up due to bad health.
Achuthanandan has filed an appeal in the district court against orders of the the principal sub court.