Land Allotment Row: Probe Sought Against Ministers

KOCHI:  A petition was filed before the Muvattupuzha Vigilance Court on Monday, seeking an inquiry against Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash and three others over the alleged corruption in allotment of 112 acre of land to a business firm owned by controversial ‘godman’ Santhosh Madhavan.

Plea Accepted

Judge P Madhavan, who accepted the petition, will consider it on Tuesday.

Under an order dated March 2, 2016, the government handed over 95.44 acre of land in the Puthenvelikkara Panchayat at Paravur and 32.41 acre of land at Madathumpadi in the Kodungallur taluk, a majority of which is paddy field, to RMZ Eco World Infrastructure Pvt Ltd for setting up a Hi-tech IT Park, subject to certain conditions. As per the order, the deal was exempted from the land ceiling limit under Section-81(3) of the Kerala Land Reforms Act.

It is alleged that Santhosh Madhavan, who has been convicted in other cases, and his accomplices bought the land from several individuals and handed it over to Bengaluru-based Adarsh Prime Properties Ltd.

“The government withdrew the order after it sparked a controversy, following allegations  of large-scale corruption,” said the petition filed by Kalamassery-based social activist G Gireesh Babu.

The plea also sought investigation against Revenue Department Additional Chief Secretary Biswas Metha, Santhosh Madhavan and RMZ Eco World MD B M Jayasankar.

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