By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Former Kerala transport minister A. Neelalohithadasan Nadar was Tuesday acquitted by a fast track court here of charges of sexually harassing a senior woman official in 1999.
Nadar had appealed to the court after a lower court found him guilty two years ago and sentenced him to three years imprisonment.
Nadar was accused of harassing Nalini Netto, who was transport secretary, in 1999. On Feb 1, 2000 she complained to then chief minister E.K. Nayanar that Nadar had called her to his cabin in the Kerala Assembly complex on Dec 21, 1999 and misbehaved with her.
Following her complaint, Nadar came under heavy pressure to quit as minister and he finally resigned Feb 13, 2000.
But in the 2001 assembly polls, he retained his Kovalam seat. But after he was found guilty, the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) decided against fielding him in the May 2006 assembly polls. Nadar, however, contested as an independent and lost the polls.
Nadar is now a senior leader with the Bahujan Samaj Party.
Hearing about his being acquittal, Nadar said that he had always maintained his innocence.
“All along I had maintained that I did no wrong and today it has been proved,” he said.
Nadar was elected four times to the assembly and in 1980 was Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram.