THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress in Kerala suffered a severe legal as well as political setback when the vigilance court in Thiruvananthapuram rejected the petition filed by party MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan seeking a probe against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his daughter Veena on the allegation that they had received a monthly payment from the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) in return for favouring operations of the company.
The court found no merit in Mathew’s allegations that the CM and his daughter had illegally benefited from the LDF Government’s “mining lease concessions” to the Kochi-based company in 2016. The five documents produced by the petitioner, the court ruled, have failed to prove the allegations against the CM.
Mathew had, in the beginning, sought a directive from the court to the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to probe the allegations. However, he later changed his stand and asked for a direct probe by the court.
The government counsel promptly challenged the shift in stand and said the petition was politically motivated and should be dismissed. The Government’s stand was that the court had no power to review the order of Income Tax Settlement Board and that two vigilance courts had already disposed of similar complaints.
The court summarily rejected Kuzhalnadan’s plea for a court-monitored probe into his claim that the mining company had contracted Veena’s IT consultancy Exalogic for a monthly retainer as a quid pro quo for the Government’s green signal for acquiring “excess land” to quarry for rare minerals in Alappuzha district in violation of Central government norms.
The most significant observation of the court was that it found merit in VACB’s contention that the litigation was politically motivated.
Kuzhalnadan had filed the petition to divert attention from the “land grab” case registered against him in Idukki.
Not surprisingly, the CPI(M) grabbed the legal victory to open a new front against the Congress and the Congress-led united Democratic Front(UDF). The CPI(M) state secretariat opined that the court verdict had exposed the Congress-rightwing media-Union Government conspiracy to defame the Chief Minister and the CPI(M). The whole petition was spun from lies and far-fetched conspiracy theories during the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, Kuzhalnadan has suffered a further legal setback with the Vigilance filing an FIR in the Chinnakanal land grab case, alleging financial irregularities. Kuzhalnadan is the 16th accused in the case. A preliminary probe revealed irregularities in the purchase of a resort and land, and recommended that a case be registered against Kuzhalnadan. Based on the report, the government ordered registration of an FIR against the MLA, which was submitted before the Muvattupuzha vigilance court.
The issue hogged headlines after the CPI(M) Ernakulam district secretary alleged irregularities in the land deal. A report sub mitted by the Udumbanchola LR Tahsildar to the Idukki collector claimed that Kuzhalnadan had 50 cents of government-owned land at Chinnakanal.
The legal setback has also exposed the rift in the Congress. Senior Congress leaders had alleged that Kuzhalnadan went ahead with the case against the CM and his daughter without consulting them. Kuzhalnadan, however, rejected their allegations. In fact, he claimed to have informed senior leaders like leader of the opposition V D Satheesan and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran before he decided to pursue the case. (IPA Service)
