Thiruvananthapuram: It’s the Onam season in Kerala and the festive spirit is palpable in the state, but not so for chief minister Oommen Chandy.
The chief minister, who is perceived as having buckled last month under relentless pressure from Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president V.M. Sudheeran to move against liquor bars in the state, has now been dealt a double blow.
The twin setbacks within a week relate to his roles in the implementation of a pollution control project in a state-owned titanium company, and an investigation into the decades-old palmolein case which took place while he was the state finance minister.
The Supreme Court on Monday asked whether it would be better to hand over the investigation in the palmolein case to some other agency because the investigation by the state police may be difficult when Chandy remains the chief minister.
The apex court’s observation came while considering a petition by opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan seeking to hand over the palmolein case investigation to a different agency.
The state cabinet that includes the chief minister decided to withdraw the palmolein case, and the apex court pointed to the apparent gain to the chief minister himself by such a decision.
The palmolein case relates to the import of palmolein from a Malaysian company in 1991-92, while Chandy was finance minister in the K. Karunakaran government.
The state auditor found that the import had caused a loss to the exchequer to the tune of Rs23.2 million (Dh1.4 million). Achuthanandan approached the Supreme Court to pursue the palmolein case after he failed to find favour with the state High Court.
Communist Party of India Marxist politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan called for Chandy’s resignation in the wake of the apex court’s observation.
Over the past week, Chandy had been facing the heat over alleged corruption in the implementation of a Rs2.56 billion pollution control and expansion project in the state government-owned Travancore Titanium Products Ltd.
There is a vigilance case pertaining to the alleged corruption in the implementation of the plan.
An employee of the company had filed a petition, alleging loss to the exchequer owing to the pollution-control project in the company. Chandy was the chief minister in 2004-06, when the alleged corruption took place.
Asked whether he would resign in the backdrop of the allegation related to the titanium-maker, Chandy responded, “Why should I resign? I know I have done no wrong in the case”.
