Thiruvananthapuram | Congress leader Jinto John on Friday criticised the UDF government for deciding to conduct a preliminary inquiry instead of registering an FIR against the LoP in the Keralam Assembly, Pinarayi Vijayan and his family in the alleged CMRL bribery case.
On Thursday, the Kerala High Court dismissed petitions filed by Vijayan, his daughter Veena T and her husband, P A Mohamed Riyas, challenging a single judge's October 9 order directing the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to register an FIR against them based on a report submitted by the Enforcement Directorate in the case.
Before the single judge passed the order, the state government had decided to conduct a preliminary inquiry instead of registering an FIR against Vijayan and his family.
The ED sought to register a case based on evidence gathered during its investigation and searches conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The agency has alleged that Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited made fraudulent payments of over Rs 3 crore to Veena's now-defunct company, Exalogic Solutions, under the guise of IT consultancy services.
Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan also questioned the government's decision.
At a press conference on Thursday, he said that since both a single judge and a division bench observed that a preliminary inquiry was unnecessary after the ED provided the information, the government should reconsider its stand if needed.
In a Facebook post on Friday, Jinto John questioned what he described as the Congress leadership's apparent change of stand on corruption allegations and its approach towards political opponents.
Referring to the previous LDF government's decision to recommend a CBI probe against former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in a case linked to the solar scam, John said the move was made despite three investigation teams constituted by Pinarayi Vijayan finding no evidence.
He asked whether Congress leaders had forgotten the alleged attempts to implicate Chief Minister V D Satheesan in the Punarjani case and the alleged harassment of MP K Sudhakaran in the Monson Mavunkal case based on false statements.
John referred to the arrests of youth and student leaders during the previous government and alleged that Mathew Kuzhalnadan was targeted for demanding a Vigilance inquiry into alleged corruption involving Vijayan's family.
Questioning the government's decision to conduct a preliminary inquiry, John said it was appropriate not to rush into registering a case based solely on an ED letter. However, he warned that excessive delay could raise suspicions, particularly when those facing allegations were unable to convincingly answer the charges.
"Not repeating the unethical political witch-hunts of the Pinarayi Vijayan era is a welcome position. At the same time, there should be nothing that gives the impression that the government is helping the alleged beneficiaries escape accountability," he said.
John said the government should not adopt a position that would leave Congress workers, who had repeatedly raised corruption allegations against the previous administration, feeling embarrassed.
He questioned the argument that the petitioner in the case was a habitual litigant, saying a complainant's credibility should not be cited to avoid addressing allegations of corruption.
He said the government should not give the impression that it was acting in favour of Vijayan and his family, adding that the allegations should be addressed through legal proceedings.
"The government should belong to everyone. It should not give the impression that it belongs particularly to Pinarayi Vijayan," John said, warning that the public would compare the present government's actions with those of the previous administration.