Govt defends Kurien in Rajya Sabha

The Centre on Tuesday defended P J Kurien in the Upper House as the Left parties threatened to boycott the Rajya Sabha deputy chairman until his name was cleared in the Suryanelli rape case.

The government reiterated that Kurien was already absolved by the courts. “A section of the media and some political members have sought to drag Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien in a rape case. It has emphatically been stated that he has never been accused in the Suryanelli rape case,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said in the Rajya Sabha.

The CPM members staged a walkout in protest, with senior party leader Sitaram Yechury demanding that Kurien should defend himself. “Let him (Kurien) come and defend. We cannot accept the executive defend the officer of legislature and undermine the sanctity of the Constitution,” Yechury said.

Nath insisted that he was making a statement on the direction of the Chair, emphasising that police inquiries and courts had already cleared Kurien of all charges.
A senior Congress leader from Kerala, Kurien has been under attack, particularly from the Lefts, after the rape victim recently demanded that he be made an accused in the case.