THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar on Thursday clarified he had backed out of the bar bribery case registered against Kerala Congress (M) leader K M Mani based on the legal advice he received. “While holding the post of minister in the council of ministers, I cannot challenge the findings of another department. Further, the judgment of the division bench of the Kerala High Court in Thomas Chandy Vs State of Kerala case has underscored that a minister cannot challenge the findings of another department of the state government,” he said.
“In view of the legal opinion, I have decided to withdraw my objection in the case as the final report submitted by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) giving a clean chit to Mani is part of the Home Department,” he said. Earlier he objected to the finding of the VACB and impleaded in the case when it filed a report in the court giving a clean chit to the former UDF ministry finance minister.
The court has rejected the findings of the VACB and directed it to hold a fresh investigation in the case, based on the objection raised by Sunilkumar and CPI leader P K Raju. However, the VACB filed a fresh report during the tenure of the present government giving a clean chit to Mani. Since the court is hearing the objections filed by the petitioners on the final report of the VACB, there is no point moving ahead with the objections by being part of the current government, he said.
It doesn’t mean the party has backed out from the case. Since Raju had impleaded in the case, he will go ahead with it, he said. He had approached the court in the case based on the decision of the party and there is no change in the stance of the party, he said.