THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala has said the efforts of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Excise Minister T P Ramakrishnan to hide the truth in the brewery issue have failed miserably. Chennithala wondered how a handful of applicants alone knew about the decision of the government to allow breweries and distilleries. The decision to disallow any new distilleries and breweries was taken by the Cabinet in 1999. This decision can be cancelled only by another Cabinet meeting.
The decision by Pinarayi and Ramakrishnan to allot breweries and distilleries to acquaintances was taken without the knowledge of their Cabinet colleagues and coalition partners. “My question on how the Pinarayi Government flouted the governmental decision upheld by the LDF Governments led by E K Nayanar and V S Achuthanadan remains unanswered. Had they discussed the matter with their Cabinet colleagues or coalition partners there would not have been the chance for this massive corruption,” Chennithala said.
The Chief Minister and Excise Minister have consistently maintained the 1999 order to disallow new breweries and distilleries in the state is just an executive decision and not a binding one. But, this argument is baseless.
It was in 1998 the then E K Nayanar Government started to accord licence to new breweries and distilling units. The floodgate of applications forced the government to constitute an executive committee headed by former Principal Secretary, Taxes, Vinod Rai. The committee recommended no licences can be granted except those in the cooperative sector. Unlike Pinarayi, Nayanar found it necessary to discuss the matter in his Cabinet, take a policy decision and issue an order.
The consecutive governments which ruled the state have abided by this order as a policy decision. Hundreds of applications were subsequently rejected based on this order. The Supreme Court on February, 22, 2013 upheld the validity of this order.
The present file contains observations by officers the G.O of 1999 prevents allotment of new distilleries. In violation to the rules, the Excise Minister summarily granted permission to new breweries, This decision of the Chief Minister and Excise Minister ignoring the recommendation of the Excise Commissioner is a clear pointer towards nepotism and corruption, he said.
Youth Congress takes out march to Secretariat
T’Puram: Demanding judicial inquiry into the brewery row and resignation of Excise Minister T P Ramakrishnan, the Youth Congress state committee took out a Secretariat march on Friday. Youth Congress state vice-president C R Mahesh alleged huge corruption was involved in granting brewery licence. The LDF went to the polls campaigning they would reduce alcohol consumption step-by-step but their actions suggest otherwise, he said.