JOIN USKerala Information Commissioner K Natarajan has landed in trouble for his alleged attempt to prevent a case being registered against Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan in a land scam.
A Malayalam TV channel on Tuesday telecast a telephonic conversation which he had purportedly made with the vigilance DySP who is probing the scam for pressing his demand.
In the conversation, he is heard saying that Achuthanandan is not habitually corrupt and that it might be a slip. So if possible, the charges against Achuthanandan should be dropped using the prerogative of the investigative officer. He reportedly made the request to DySP V G Kunju in September.
Natarajan, a retired IPS officer, was appointed information commissioner during the fag end of the Achuthanandan government. In January this year, the vigilance investigation arraigned the former chief minister and veteran Marxist as one of the eight accused in the case. It was also found that four senior IAS officers, including Achuthanandan’s former principal secretary, had been involved in the scam.
The vigilance has been investigating into the alleged intervention of Natarajan as the DySP has reported it to higher-ups. Home Minister Thiruvanchiyoor Radhakrishnan said the government was looking into the issue. If it was found that the information commissioner had intervened, the government would take action.