THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After a while, the Pattoor land scam made a headway into the state Legislative Assembly in the session held on Wednesday with Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan demanding to table the report by Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) in the House and demanding the Speaker to pressure the Home Minister to speed up the matter. During the question hour, MLA S Sharma introduced the topic asking for presenting a pertinent file related to the land issue.
Urban Affairs Minister Manjalamkuzhi Ali in response said the file remained with the Vigilance.
Earlier, VACB in its probe had termed 15 officials guilty of maladministration. It also found 30.98 cents of land in the construction site likely to be either government land or ‘puramboke’. Following this, Thiruvananthapuram Corporation executive engineer S Ananda Raju and public works overseer Jayakumar were suspended pending enquiry. The investigation report was submitted by then Vigilance ADGP Jacob Thomas.
Minister’s Remark Sparks Protest
A remark made by Minister Manjalamkuzhi Ali against DGP Jacob Thomas sparked a row in the Assembly on Wednesday. Ali said Jacob Thomas was haunting the state government and he still continued in the post due to the Chief Minister’s favour, adding that if he were in the chair of CM, the DGP would have been sitting at home.
This resulted in an uproar from the Opposition that questioned whether it was fair to ridicule an officer in the House.