Chief Minister Oommen Chandy filed an affidavit in a court here on Thursday stating that Leader of the Opposition V. S. Achuthanandan’s repeated assertions in public that he was accused in 31 criminal cases tantamount to criminal defamation.
‘False accusations’
Mr. Chandy has sued Mr. Achuthanandan for tarnishing his name and the image of the Cabinet by allegedly making false accusations. He stated that the Opposition leader had also falsely claimed that there were a total of 136 criminal cases pending against members of his cabinet.
The Chief Minister said there was no FIR registered against him in the country and no court had taken cognisance of any of the allegations against him.
Adverse remarks
He said it was Mr. Achuthanandan who earned adverse remarks from courts in the palmolien and Pattoor cases. The High Court had accused Mr. Achuthanandan of cunningly evading investigation in a corruption case registered against him, Mr. Chandy said.
The court will hear the libel case at a later date.
