Six-year-old bribery allegations resurface in Kerala

A six year old bar bribery allegation in Kerala that was a talking point during the last Assembly elections in Kerala is rearing its head again now at a time when the state is heading for local body and Assembly polls.

A bar hotel owner who raised the bribery allegations in 2014 on Monday said that Kerala opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and his wife had pleaded him not to raise bribery allegation against Chennithala. He also alleged that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sabotaged the probe into the bribery allegations.

Biju Ramesh, who runs a chain of hotels, kicked off the bar bribery allegations in 2014 October by alleging that the then Kerala Finance Minister K M Mani took Rs 1 crore bribe offering relaxations in the then Congress government's liquor policy.

Recently Biju Ramesh, who was also working president of Kerala Bar Hotel Owners Association, had alleged that bribes were also paid to Chennithala, former excise minister K Babu and former health minister V S Sivakumar from the Rs 10 crore raised from various bar hotel owners for paying bribe to political leaders in 2014.

On Monday, Biju Ramesh said that he did not reveal the allegation against Chennithala earlier as Chennithala and his wife pleaded to him not to cause trouble to Chennithala.

Denying the allegations, Chennithala said that he would move legally against Biju Ramesh for raising such allegation.

Recently the left-front government in Kerala decided to go for a vigilance inquiry against Chennithala an the two other former ministers based on Biju Ramesh's fresh allegations. The matter is pending nod from Governor and Assembly speaker.

However, Biju Ramesh said on Monday that he had no confidence in a probe by state government's agency as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had sabotaged the probe aginst K M Mani. He said that central agencies should probe into the bribery allegations.

Though the Vigilance earlier probed into the allegations that K M Mani took Rs 1 crore bribe, the vigilance could not find any convincing evidence. The proceedings were closed in 2019 following Mani's death.