CPI(M) Dares Kerala Government to Probe Ministers Named in CMRL Ledger
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Tuesday publicly challenged the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Kerala to order an investigation into Cabinet Ministers whom it says are identified by acronyms in a disputed ledger maintained by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd. (CMRL), a listed chemical company in which the State government holds a minority stake.
Addressing a press conference, CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan said the Income Tax department's case against CMRL was that the company had incurred a loss of ₹152 crore through suspected pay-offs to a number of politicians, including Ministers in the present UDF government.
Mr. Govindan said the Income Tax department's contention was that the acronyms in the company's account books referred to the current Chief Minister, V.D. Satheesan; Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala; and Industries Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty.
He contrasted the responses of those named. Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan, he said, had stated categorically that the initials “PV” in the account books did not refer to him. The Home Minister and the Industries Minister, by contrast, had acknowledged publicly that they had accepted election funds from CMRL. The remaining individuals, Mr. Govindan said, had neither confirmed nor denied the Income Tax department's claim.
Turning to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Mr. Govindan described its proceedings as a politically motivated exercise built on the Income Tax department's findings, aimed at pressuring the State government to prosecute Mr. Vijayan, his daughter T. Veena and former Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas on corruption charges.
He said Ms. Veena's software firm, Exalogic Solutions, had transacted with CMRL under a contractual agreement, and that the retainer fee she received as a consultant was routed through legal banking channels and was tax-compliant. The retainer, he added, was substantially lower than the political donations the UDF Ministers are alleged to have accepted.
However, the ED has no case against the UDF Ministers, Mr. Govindan said, adding that the agency had not asked the State police to register a criminal case over the alleged pay-offs. He said the agency's case against CPI(M) leaders rested on statements recorded from CMRL's management that had since been retracted.
The CPI(M) leader accused the UDF government of acting in concert with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which he said controls the ED, and of playing second fiddle to a Central agency he described as influenced by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He alleged a covert understanding between the two parties during the Assembly elections, and described the UDF government as the BJP's B-team in the State.
Citing precedent, Mr. Govindan said the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments had rejected similar demands from the ED against politicians belonging to parties opposed to the BJP as legally untenable. In Kerala, he said, Chief Minister Mr. Satheesan had instead insisted on a police inquiry that could carry legal and political consequences for some of his own Cabinet colleagues and for the ruling alliance, including possible violations of election funding rules.
The accusations are the CPI(M)'s characterisation of the case. The existence and content of the CMRL ledger, the meaning of the acronyms in it, and the allegations of pay-offs have not been established in any court, and no person named has been convicted. The CPI(M)'s statement did not include responses from the UDF government, the BJP, the Enforcement Directorate or the Ministers named. The tax and enforcement proceedings cited form part of an ongoing political and legal dispute in the State.
