Chief secretary-led panel to prepare report on further action 

The state government has entrusted a Chief Secretary-led panel to come up with a report on actions to be taken on the recommendations by the P S Antony Commission that probed into the sleaze talk row

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  The state government has entrusted a Chief Secretary-led panel to come up with a report on actions to be taken on the recommendations by the P S Antony Commission that probed into the sleaze talk row involving former minister A K Saseendran. The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Commission’s recommendations, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Further action on the Commission recommendations will be taken as per the secretary- level panel’s report.

In addition to the Chief Secretary, the panel will have Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Principal Secretary (Information and Public Relations) and Law Secretary. The Cabinet also directed the state police chief to look into lapses in the police investigation and the Commission recommendation for speedy probe into the criminal conspiracy behind airing the voice clip.

The Antony Commission had come up with major recommendations to cancel the broadcasting licence of the private television channel in addition to recommending prosecution action against those behind the honey trap. In its inferences, the Commission said authenticity of the audio clip aired by the channel has not been proven.

The audio clip is the result of a criminal conspiracy to increase the rating of the channel by giving breaking news on the day of its launch. It further states that the audio clip was tampered with and edited. The situation which led to the resignation of a minister was part of the conspiracy by the television channel. Telecasting the audio clip was the height of the pre-planned criminal conspiracy, the Commission has found. The Commission has not come up with any findings against Saseendran, said CM Pinarayi Vijayan.

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The New Indian Express
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