The Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) is likely to question State Finance Minister KM Mani, who has been accused of taking Rs1 crore as bribe from bar owners. According to sources, the bureau will question the 82-year-old Minister secretly at a place and time of his choice.
To Initiate to process, the Superintendent of Police (Vigilance) R Sukesan has already requested Mani, chairman of the Kerala Congress (M), third biggest constituent of the Congress-led ruling UDF, to choose a place and time of his convenience for questioning. However, Mani has not responded to the request so far.
The VACB’s reported decision to question Mani indicates that its investigation into the bribery allegation against him is in the final stages. The bureau had registered an FIR over the allegation naming the State Finance Minister as the accused in December after it found through a quick verification that the charge against him was prima facie credible.
After questioning Mani, the Vigilance may have to record the statement of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who has already given a clean chit to his Finance Minister in the case. It is not yet clear whether the VACB will file a chargesheet against Mani as there are rumours that a strong section in the Government does not want this to happen.
The case against Mani began with the disclosure by Biju Ramesh, working president of the Kerala Bar Hotels’ Association, on October 31 last year that the Minister had demanded Rs 5 crore as bribe from the State’s bar owners and had taken Rs 1 crore of it, promising to help them get the licences renewed for their bars which were closed down due to lack of required facilities.
The decision to directly question Mani was taken after the investigators got crucial evidence, substantiating Biju Ramesh’s statement that Rs 35 lakh of the Rs 1 crore was paid to him at his official residence in Thiruvananthapuram. The bar owner had said that this money was taken by top office-bearers of the bar owners’ association to Mani’s residence in his car.