THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Action against Transport Minister Thomas Chandy in the alleged encroachment case is likely to be delayed with the government seeking legal opinion on the Alappuzha Collector’s report that has recommended legal action on encroachers and revenue officials.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sought the Advocate General’s opinion despite Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan demanding legal action in the Marthandamkayal encroachment. The legal opinion was sought based on the recommendations of Revenue Secretary P H Kurian.
The Revenue Secretary in his recommendation to the Chief Minister said it was better to seek legal opinion as the issue is now pending before the court. Apart from this, he said more inspection is needed to ascertain the real facts. He said satellite images from 2006 to 2011 should have to be verified before taking action. It should be looked into if the land allegedly encroached was included in the Data Bank, he said.
The Revenue Secretary is learnt to have given the recommendations after Chandrasekharan met the Chief Minister on Tuesday and demanded legal action against the encroachers.
Highly placed sources in the Revenue Department said the Secretary had not made any recommendations to the Revenue Minister but only forwarded the Collector’s report to him. The Secretary had not even communicated anything to the Minister regarding the report, they said. With the unilateral stand, the cold war between the Revenue Secretary and the minister has once again come to the fore.
Sources close to the Revenue Minister alleged the Secretary has been taking unilateral decisions for the past many months without consulting the Minister. “As per the rules of business, Secretaries can only make suggestions or recommendations to the government through the ministers concerned, which has been violated in the present case,” they said.
On Tuesday, the Revenue Minister handed over the report along with his recommendations to the Chief Minister. While briefing the Chief Minister, Chandrashekaran said the report had recommendations to register a criminal case for encroachment on government land and filling of the lake. He had asked to take strong action against Chandy, who is a board member of Water World Tourism Company that owns the resort.
Sources said the Collector’s report was comprehensive and no further inspection was needed as recommended by the Secretary. The Collector had conducted a detailed probe and the findings were also based on satellite images, which has once again been recommended by the Secretary. Moreover, the report has details regarding Data Bank and has recommended action as per the Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, they said.
Ruckus in Alappuzha municipality
The special council meeting of the Alappuzha municipality on Wednesday witnessed pandemonium over the action initiated against the municipal secretary who disbursed the salary of the employees who staged strike in connection with the Lake Palace issue.
The LDF and UDF councillors engaged in a war of words by hurling chairs in the meeting. The special council meeting was convened to take action against municipal secretary U S Satheesan, who allegedly acted against the direction of the municipal chairman.
As many as 70 employees of the municipality had launched an indefinite agitation after four employees were suspended in connection with the missing of files related to the construction of Lake Palace Resort owned by Transport Minister Thomas Chandy. “The employees who took part in the protest had worked only for 22 days. I had told the municipal secretary to give the employees only 22 days’ salary. But the municipal secretary gave them 30 days’ salary. He did not obey my direction and he acted as per his interest. So the council decided to recommend to the state government to take action against the municipal secretary,’’ he said in the meeting.
During the commotion, UDF councillor Basheer Koyaparambil made remarks against LDF councillor Remi Nazeer. Following this, all the 21 LDF councillors barged into the well of the council hall demanding Basheer’s apology. The chairman ended the meeting saying the council has decided to recommend to the state government to take action against the municipal secretary.
Additional Chief Secretary not above minister: Kanam
With Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan and Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) P H Kurian crossing swords over the encroachment issue of Minister Thomas Chandy, CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran on Wednesday underscored the Additional Chief Secretary is not above the Revenue Minister. He was speaking to media against the backdrop of Kurian recommending the Chief Minister to seek legal advice before considering the report of Alappuzha District Collector on encroachment.
“The Additional Chief Secretary is not above the Revenue Minister. The final say rests with the Minister ,” Kanam told reporters during the Jana Jagratha Yatra.
Kanam defended the action for not considering the Collector’s report at the Cabinet.“The report landed late. Cabinet meetings are usually convened on the basis of minutes. As it’s a later development it couldn’t be included. There is nothing unusual about it,” Kanam said.
In a pique, Thomas Chandy meets CM
The row related to Transport Minister Thomas Chandy and the Alappuzha collector’s report on Marthandam Kayal encroachment issue was not taken up in the Cabinet on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Chandy met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan ahead of the Cabinet meeting and expressed his displeasure over the Collector’s report and the recommendations by the Revenue Minister in this regard.
There were indications the Cabinet - which is meeting a day after Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan recommended for strong action against Chandy in the encroachment issue - may discuss the Collector’s report and follow up action. It is learnt Chandy told the CM it was inappropriate for the Collector to hold a probe in an issue that was pending before the court.