Thiruvananthapuram — Kerala minister K Muraleedharan on Tuesday defended the UDF government's decision to order a preliminary enquiry into allegations involving former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
Muraleedharan said the Congress may disagree with the Enforcement Directorate's stand at the national level, but allegations of corruption made in a letter from the agency must be investigated.
The ED had written to the state police seeking the registration of an FIR against Vijayan, his daughter Veena T and her husband P A Mohamed Riyas under the Prevention of Corruption Act in connection with the alleged CMRL bribery case.
That is why the government decided to conduct a preliminary enquiry into the allegations in the ED letter before taking any further action on it. It was a Cabinet decision, Muraleedharan told reporters, according to PTI. He said the government registered an FIR after the Kerala High Court directed it to do so. Now, Vijayan has gone in appeal against that. If he succeeds, there will be a stay; else the case will move forward, he said.
The Health and Devaswom minister also said Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had appeared before the ED and answered its questions when they received notices, even as they opposed the agency's actions. Asked about differences within the Congress over various issues, Muraleedharan said he would not comment on them, including the matter involving UDF convener Adoor Prakash, following a directive issued by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee chief a day earlier.
KPCC chief Sunny Joseph on Monday warned party leaders against making contentious public statements, saying such remarks would benefit neither the leaders nor the organisation.
The warning followed criticism from some sections of the party over the alleged delay in registering an FIR against CPI(M) veteran Vijayan in the CMRL case and Prakash's criticism of Chief Minister V D Satheesan.
Prakash accused Satheesan of taking major administrative and policy decisions unilaterally, without consulting him or the UDF's alliance partners. He also filed a written complaint with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and met AICC general secretary Deepa Dasmunsi and Rahul Gandhi to seek the central leadership's intervention.
Muraleedharan maintained that the preliminary enquiry was the correct step after the ED's allegations, while declining to discuss the differences within the Congress following the KPCC chief's directive.