Cong leaders question nod to prosecute Kerala PCC chief

The permission accorded by the Left Front government in Kerala to the state police chief to initiate prosecution against Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Mullapally Ramachandran has triggered criticism from senior Congress leaders.

AICC senior leader and former Kerala chief minister A K Antony said that Left Front leaders including Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had made insulting remarks against the police officers while they were not ruling, hence they need to be prosecuted first.

While reacting to alleged irregularities in postal votes of police personnel in Kerala during the Lok Sabha polls, Ramachandran had said that state police chief Loknath Behera was behaving as CPM branch secretary, thus provoking Behera to seek permission to prosecute him. The government granted it recently.

AICC general secretaries Oommen Chandy and K C Venugopal also condemned the move. Chandy, former chief minister of Kerala, said that the move was against freedom of expression. Venugopal said it was an irony that the CPM leaders who used to abuse the police and the judiciary have now given nod to prosecute a political leader for criticising the police.