The Kerala Assembly proceedings were disrupted briefly on Tuesday after an ED remand report, containing certain allegations against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in the Life Mission case was read out in the House by Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan during discussion of the adjournment notice moved by him regarding the case in which the Chief Minister’s former Principal Secretary, M Sivasankar, was facing a probe.
The ED is investigating the alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulations) Act in the Life Mission, a flagship housing project of the Left Government.
As permission to adjourn the House was not granted by the Speaker based on the explanation given by Kerala Minister of Local Self Governments MB Rajesh, the UDF-Opposition staged a walkout.
Rajesh opposed the adjournment motion on the ground that the allegations of corruption in the case had been raised in the House several times.
The Minister said that under the Life Mission scheme over three lakh houses have been built for the homeless and landless in the State, but despite that the Opposition was always attacking the project.
He also contended that no official working in the Life Mission project had ever accepted a bribe, no illegality was ever committed by them and the Congress reliance on ED indicates the grand old party’s "political bankruptcy".
Rajesh also argued that under the House rules, matters being adjudicated in any court should not be discussed in the Assembly and therefore, it was not right to read out the remand report and the contents of the same should not be included in the records of the legislature.
Kuzhalnadan, on the other hand, contended that according to the report, Sivasankar told the central agency that there was a meeting between him, the Chief Minister, the UAE consul general and Swapna Suresh -- an accused in the gold smuggling through diplomatic bags case.
He further said that as per the report, Sivasankar has mentioned that he briefed Vijayan after Suresh was appointed to the post of Operations Manager in the Space Park project under the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Ltd.
Kuzhalnadan asked, in the House, whether the CM can deny these allegations in the report to which Vijayan responded by categorically denying that anything as read out by the legislator ever happened.