THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The stage is set for a high-profile probe against former sports minister V Abdurahiman as Governor Om Prakash Mathur has accorded sanction for his prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The governor’s nod clears the way for the special investigation team (SIT) to arraign Abdurahiman as an accused in the case pertaining to alleged irregularities surrounding the failed proposal to bring Lionel Messi and the Argentina football team to the state.
The SIT led by Law and Order ADGP P Vijayan had in its report stated that there was incriminating evidence that the former minister extended favours to Reporter Broadcasting Company, the private sponsor of the proposed event.
SIT flagged protocol violation in ‘Messi’ deals
The probe team had stated that Abdurahiman misused his position to arbitrarily select the sponsor and violated protocol during the signing of sponsorship deals.
The SIT probe also reportedly stumbled on evidence against Abdurahiman’s private secretary C Sathyapalan.
After the SIT filed its report, the state government on October 16 sent the documents to the Lok Bhavan with a request for sanction, which is required under Section 17 A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, as the alleged offence was committed when Abdurahiman was minister.
Abdurahiman had denied any wrongdoing and told the SIT during questioning that the proposal was initiated with the sole objective of bringing Messi to the state.
A special team of the GST department had reported irregularities in inward and outward fund flows in the bank accounts of the event’s sponsor. It had also raised doubts about the source of funds running to about `200 crore received from two financial institutions.
The department had flagged that IGST liability, which comes to the tune of `22.68 crore, remained unpaid. The sponsor had reportedly transferred `126 crore to an account registered outside India in connection with its unsuccessful bid to bring Messi to Kerala.