THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Home minister Ramesh Chennithala said that if a case was not registered against excise minister K. Babu, it was because there was no evidence against him.
"The decision of Thrissur Vigilance Court to order a quick verification against Babu was done without examining the preliminary investigation report of the Vigilance," the home minister said while replying to the adjournment motion moved by CPM member Suresh Kurup in the Assembly on Tuesday.
The minister, however, said that the QV report would be submitted in the court before January 23, 2016.
K Babu, on his part, said he would resign forthwith if it could be proved that Biju Ramesh had mentioned his name in the 164 statement he had made before the court.
Following the replies of the ministers, Speaker N. Sakthan turned down Mr Kurup's demand to temporarily stop all Assembly proceedings and discuss the quick verification ordered by the Thrissur Vigilance court. The Opposition staged a walkout in protest.
The home minister said that the Opposition charge that the court had rejected the preliminary enquiry report of the Vigilance was patently false. He said that a detailed probe was conducted on the basis of Biju Ramesh's charges.
"Witnesses were summoned, and their statements recorded. The case was closed only when no evidence could be gleaned," the minister said.
He added that it was a mystery why the Vigilance Court, "despite all the records we had submitted", ordered the QV. In K. M. Mani's case, the witnesses gave statements in support of Biju Ramesh's charges.
Suresh Kurup, while moving the adjournment motion, said that the court had expressed the concern that the truth would remain suppressed if a body under the government was probing a minister.
"The QV was ordered because the court wanted the truth to be revealed," Mr Kurup said. He said that witnesses were summoned to closed rooms and false statements recorded. "It is in this manner that this government had scuttled many probes," he alleged.
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