George moves HC against Mani

April 25, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:49 am IST - KOCHI:

Former Government Chief Whip and Kerala Congress (M) [KC(M)] MLA P.C. George on Friday filed a public interest petition in the Kerala High Court against his party leader K.M. Mani holding the posts of KC(M) chairman and Finance Minister.

In his petition, Mr. George said that as per the party constitution, the chairman of the party could not hold the post of a Minister. He said the KC(M) had contested the last Assembly elections based on the party constitution. Mr. George alleged that Mr. Mani had violated the provisions of the party’s constitution which had been submitted before the Election Commission for getting registration. He said if Mr. Mani wanted to become a Minister, he should have resigned from the post of chairman.

The internal democracy and working formula within a political party could not be viewed as its internal affairs. It was interlinked with the electoral process, he said.

Mr. George said that forgery had been committed when it presented the list of office-bearers of the party to the Election Commission. The list accompanying the letter submitted along with the constitution of the party had mentioned Joy Abraham as general secretary and C.F. Thomas as deputy chairman of the party. However, Mr. Thomas had signed as general secretary of the party under the constitution. Thus, the general secretary and the chairman of the party had misled the Election Commission while submitting the application and constitution for retaining the registration.

The petitioner also sought to issue a quo warranto directing Mr. Mani to show cause under what authority he was continuing as Finance Minister even as he continues as the party chairman.

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