Kerala High Court was on Thursday informed that Sreedharan Nair, a complainant in solar panel scam case, had told police during questioning that Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had no role in the deal which he had entered with accused Saritha S Nair to set up a solar plant in Palakkad.

The submission in this regard was made by Additional DGP A Hemachandran, who is heading the Special Investigating Team probing the scam, which has rocked the state.

Nair had also given a statement before Pathnamthitta Judicial Magistrate that he had met the Chief Minister in his office. He allegedly included Chandy's name in the complaint at a later stage.

According to Nair, owner of Mallelil industries, Saritha had received Rs 40 lakh to set up a plant at KINFRA park in Palakkad in association with Team Solar.

Tenny Joppen, a former official of Chandy's office, was arrested on Nair's complaint that he and Saritha had cheated him. Joppen was recently released on bail after spending over two months in custody.

The ADGP also stated that retrieval of data from CCTVs in the Chief Minister's office is yet to be done. So far such retrieval had never been undertaken in any criminal case in Kerala, he stated.

The investigating team had been exploring the possibility of such retrieval utilising all available technologies, including those available with Non Government agencies, the court was informed.

The statement was filed on a petition by one Joy Kaitharath, seeking to retrieve CCTV data of CM's office.

Police also said the demand of the petitioner, Joy Kaitharath, to seize the computer hard disc and server in Chief Minister's office was "completely unjustified".

Investigators have already recovered forged documents made in the name of the Chief Minister and seized the hard disc from the computers of Biju Radhakrishnan, prime accused in the case. This is likely to reveal details of forging of more documents in the name of Chief Minister and others.

The investigation was proceeding based on "legally admissible" evidence, the ADGP said and challenged the right of the petitioner, "who is a total stranger in the case".

The SIT chief said Salim Raj, former gunman of the Chief Minister and Jikku Mon, former Personal assistant of Chandy, were questioned by the investigating team. Their criminal liability was excluded only after thorough investigation into the matter.

The scam relates to cheating people of huge sums by the accused Biju Radhakrishnan and Saritha Nair by offering solar energy solutions.

The case assumed a serious political dimension with the arrest of Tenny Joppan, a personal assistant in the Chief Minister's office, for his alleged links with the accused.

As a spin-off, former Director of Public Relations Department A Firoz and tele-actress and danseuse Shalu Menon were also arrested in a related case. Shalu and Joppan were released on bail last month.