THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPM has stepped up its attack on the Congress-led UDF government, warning that any decision to register a case against Pinarayi Vijayan based on an Enforcement Directorate (ED) directive could lend credence to its allegation of a “BJP-Congress deal”.
CPM state secretary M V Govindan, on Tuesday, said the government’s response to ED’s letter seeking registration of a case would be closely watched, particularly against the backdrop of Congress national leadership’s repeated criticism of the alleged misuse of central agencies for political purposes.
“If the Kerala government registers a case based on the direction of a central agency controlled by the BJP government, it will underline that there is a BJP-Congress deal,” Govindan said at a press conference. He said the Congress central leadership had taken the position that the BJP-led government at the Centre was misusing central agencies for political vendetta and that Keralam is now waiting to see whether the UDF government would act on the ED’s request.
The ED has reportedly written to the state police chief seeking registration of a case in connection with the alleged irregularities surrounding the CMRL-Exalogic Solutions payment controversy. Govindan questioned the legal basis for invoking the Prevention of Corruption Act, maintaining that the available material did not provide grounds for such a case.
“This is another attempt to register a case against Pinarayi Vijayan under the pretext of an inquiry into the affairs of his daughter T Veena. During the CMRL raid, the ED seized a diary containing the names of 182 persons who had allegedly received payments from the company.
The names of the current Home and Industries Ministers and former CM Oommen Chandy were also in the list of names. But no inquiry was conducted against those whose names figured in the diary,” he said.
Govindan also sought to turn the ED’s latest move against the UDF government, pointing out that the agency’s letter had been sent to the home department headed by Ramesh Chennithala, whose name, he claimed, was also in the seized diary.
He further argued that transactions between CMRL and Exalogic did not fall within the ambit of the Prevention of Corruption Act. According to Govindan, ED initiated its inquiry based on Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) report, but the matter is now before the Delhi High Court.
“The Delhi High Court is expected to pronounce its verdict on the challenge to the SFIO report soon. It is believed that the report may be quashed. The ED therefore wants a fresh case to be registered by the state Vigilance so that it can continue its probe against Pinarayi Vijayan,” he alleged.