JOIN USThe Kerala Home Department on Tuesday gave its nod to prosecute Veteran CPM and Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan (VS) in a land allotment case.
The final decision will be taken by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan. However, they will seek the Governor’s permission before giving their consent as VS was a former chief minister, despite legal opinion suggesting the move as unnecessary.
Until a few days ago, the government was in a fix over the case as the Vigilance Assistant Legal Advisor O Sasi had given his opinion that the evidences gathered by the investigation team were not sufficient to charge sheet the accused.
However, SP Vigilance Kozhikode range Habeeb Rahman overlooked the opinion and he is alleged to have leaked the information to the media adding further controversy to the case.
On Monday, Deputy Director General of Prosecution (Vigilance) Vakkom G Saseendran gave the opinion that there was concrete evidence to prosecute VS, as also former revenue minister and CPI leader K P Rajendaran, VS’s relative T K Soman, personal assistant A Suresh and former Kasargod collector Krishnan Kutty.
Saseendran said, as per the evidence gathered by the investigation team, they are guilty of criminal misconduct, criminal conspiracy, cheating and dishonesty that could attract up to seven years imprisonment.
The case pertains to the allocation of land to VS’s relative and ex-service man in Kasargod district allegedly flouting norms at the fag end of his tenure.