THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government on Friday sought the nod of the governor to arraign former sports minister V Abdurahiman as an accused in the case pertaining to alleged irregularities surrounding the failed proposal to bring Lionel Messi and Argentina football team to the state.
The file was sent from Chief Minister V D Satheesan’s office seeking the governor’s sanction, which is required under Section 17 A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, as the alleged offence was committed when Abdurahiman was the minister.
Sources said the irregularities were committed while performing administrative duties and hence the sanction from the governor was mandatory.
“Some of the acts, such as handing over the Jawaharlal International Stadium in Kochi to the sponsor, were administrative decisions taken by the minister. Because of that the governor’s sanction is necessary to initiate legal steps against the ex-minister,” said a government source.
The state government, had, in-principle agreed to accord sanction to register a case against Abdurahiman and former Sports Council president U Sharaf Ali under the Prevention of Corruption Act after the special investigation team reported that there was incriminating evidence against them.
The probe also reportedly stumbled on evidence against Abdurahiman’s private secretary C Sathyapalan. The team assessed that Abdurahiman misused his position to arbitrarily select a sponsor and violated protocols during the signing of sponsorship deals.
Abdurahiman had denied any wrongdoing and said the exercise was initiated with the sole objective of bringing Messi to the state.