THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance Minister Thomas Isaac has said that his government does not fear the Enforcement Directorate's probe against the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). The ED cannot do anything against the KIIFB, he said.
Addressing mediapersons here on Wednesday, the minister said that the BJP-led central government was misusing the Enforcement Directorate for political gains. The minister's response was in the wake of the ED's probe into the masala bond issuance by the KIIFB. The agency has summoned the top executives of the KIIFB for interrogation.
The minister said the ED was trying to demoralise the officers of the KIIFB. "The ED wants to elicit certain answers favouring its interests. The state government will not allow the ED to threaten its officers. The state will not step back if the Centre plans a confrontation. The probe is part of a plot to scuttle Kerala's development," the minister said.
Isaac denied the allegation that KIIFB was misused for whitening black money. "Those who spread such lies do not have a basic understanding on the fund mobilisation method of the KIIFB," he said.
The minister said the CAG's findings against the KIIFB's foreign borrowings were absurd. "The Union government is entitled to frame laws related to foreign loans. But that doesn't mean that only the central government is entitled to avail such loans," he said. The FEMA allows any body corporate to avail foreign loans with the sanction of the Reserve Bank of India. The KIIFB followed this guideline and secured sanction from the RBI. Also, a report was given to the RBI on the spending of the loan amount.
"It was not the Kerala government but the KIIFB that availed the loan. The KIIFB Act defines the organisation as a body corporate. KIIFB will not fall under the purview of Article 293 (1) of the Constitution and hence there is no question of violation of Constitutional provisions," he said.