In fresh trouble for Kerala Congress (M) chairman and former State Minister KM Mani, who is already facing several corruption-related cases, a Vigilance court on Monday ordered a quick verification against him with regard to a mass marriage function held by the party even as a KC(M) panel reportedly concluded that the allegation that Mani had taken Rs1 crore as bribe from bar owners was the result of a conspiracy hatched by top Congress leaders and others.
At the same time, the Vigilance has started yet another probe against Mani on a complaint pertaining to the out-of-the-way assistance he had allegedly provided for a battery component unit when he was minister in the former Congress-led government. As per the complaint, Mani had caused a loss of Rs 1.66 crore to the Exchequer by giving tax relaxation to the company.
The Special Vigilance Court in Thiruvananthapuram directed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to carry out a quick verification against Mani over the complaint that the he had used money amassed through corruption for organizing a mass marriage programme in Kottayam in October, 2014 as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of the formation of the KC(M).
According to the complainant, over Rs 4 crore was spent for the mass marriage programme in which 150 couples selected from the 14 districts of the State had got married at the same venue. Each of these couples had been presented with 40 grams of gold and Rs1 lakh in cash, the complaint said.
The same court had on August 27 ordered further probe into the bar bribery scandal on the basis of a petition submitted by Superintendent of Police (Vigilance) R Sukesan who had investigated the case, in which he said that former Vigilance Director N Shanker Reddy had derailed the probe. The court has asked the Vigilance to submit the probe progress report by October 22.
This is the second time Mani is facing a quick verification for alleged corruption. In the bar bribery case, the Vigilance had registered a formal case against him after a quick verification. Mani, who had celebrated the 50th year of his legislative career last year, resigned in November as Finance and law minister in the then Congress-led UDF government as a result of this case.
Meanwhile, a report, allegedly prepared by a committee the KC(M) had formed to find the source of the bar bribery charge against Mani, was released in a section of the media on Monday which said that it was the result of a conspiracy hatched by Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress and others.
The KC(M) had on August 7 left the UDF of which it was a crucial constituent for more than the past three decades. The KC(M) leadership has from the very start of the bar bribery scandal held that the allegation against Mani was the result of a conspiracy that had originated at the top of the Congress party.
As per the 71-page report released by a TV channel, former Congress minister Adoor Prakash, Congress leader Joseph Vazhakkan, former KC(M) vice-president PC George, Kerala Congress (B) chief R Balakrishna Pillai, bar owner Biju Ramesh who had leveled the bribery allegation against Mani and several others had participated in the conspiracy.
However, Mani and senior KC(M) leader CF Thomas, who was the chairman of the fact-finding committee, denied the existence of any such report. While Thomas said, “No report has been prepared by the panel of which I was the head,” Mani said, “There were several inquiries and several reports. But I don’t know anything about the report that is being discussed in the media.”
The media quoted the KC(M) report as saying that Chennithala had conspired against Mani due to his desire to become chief minister. It said former Congress chief minister Oommen Chandy had known about the conspiracy. It is also said that the KC(M) had decided to leave the UDF as per a recommendation contained in the report.