THRISSUR: :The quick verification on the allegations levelled against Fisheries Minister K Babu and hotelier Biju Ramesh in the bar bribery scam, as ordered by Thrissur Vigilance Court, will commence on Friday.
The petitioner, George Vattukulam of Malayala Vedi, has been directed to appear at the office of Ernakulam Vigilance SP by 11 am on Friday. He had presented before the court, a Compact Disk (CD) of an interview between hotelier Biju Ramesh and a private channel in which the former alleged to have given `50 lakh to Excise Minister K Babu for getting bar licence.
The petitioner had stated that a probe supervised by the court was necessary to bring out the truth as K Babu, the first respondent, was a member of the Council of Ministers.The petition, filed by George Vattukulam, had named Excise Minister K Babu as the first respondent and hotelier Biju Ramesh as the second.
“When the State Government decided to ban the sales of foreign liquor in the bars across the state, the second respondent had claimed through the visual and print media that he, as a representative of the Bar Owners Association, was directed to pay a sum of `10 crore for the bars to reopen and that he had paid `50 lakh as a primary instalment to the first accused. Giving and accepting bribes are punishable by law. The two respondents had tried to influence the liquor policy of the State Government. The second respondent had made it clear that he had collected money from the bar owners of Thrissur district,” the petition noted.