(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) He expressed surprise over the court decision to make the home minister an accused in the case as he was not holding any position either in the government or in the party when the project was initiated.Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala have ruled out their resignation in the wake of Trivandrum vigilance court’s direction to the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to register a case against them in the alleged Travancore corruption case.
The case pertains to the alleged loss of Rs2 billion suffered by state-run Travancore Titanium Products (TTP) Ltd in connection with a waste treatment plant initiated by Chandy during his term as Chief Minister in 2006. The VACB had investigated the deal on the complaint filed by two former staff members-Sebastian George and S Jayan. Talking to reporters at Cochin on Friday the chief minister said that the court had not found anyone guilty in connection with the project but had only ordered a further probe into the allegations. He said he was ready to face any investigation.
“I took the initiative to set up the plant after the Supreme Court issued an ultimatum for the closure of the company. My decision was in the interest of the company and its employees numbering over 1000” he added.
Chandy said that he could not be held responsible for the losses suffered by the company on account of implementation of the project as the entire financial dealings on the project were carried by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government that came to power subsequently.
He expressed surprise over the court decision to make the home minister an accused in the case as he was not holding any position either in the government or in the party when the project was initiated.
The name of Ramesh was dragged into the case by the then Health Minister K K Ramachandran Master after he was removed from the party for anti-party activities.
The Health Minister said that Ramachandran Master’s allegation that he had threatened him in his capacity as the then president of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) to clear the project was baseless as he assumed charge of the party only 42 days after the project was accorded sanction by the cabinet. For more news from Khaleej Times follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes and on Twitter at khaleejtimes Follow khaleejtimes ->
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