Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala has said the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) will file a First Information Report (FIR) against Excise Minister K. Babu if it gets prima facie evidence against him after a preliminary inquiry on the basis of deposition made by Kerala Bar Hotels Association working president Biju Ramesh.
At a meet-the-press organised by the Thiruvananthapuram Press Club here on Thursday, Mr. Chennithala said the VACB had so far processed the bar bribery cases without consideration of the status of the accused. The preliminary inquiry was mandatory as per the Lalithakumari verdict of the Supreme Court. However, it was not possible to get a Minister to resign on the basis of mere allegations. “We follow the rule of law under which a person is innocent till proved guilty.”
He rejected the contention that there were factional differences about the manner in which the cases were being handled. The UDF government functioned on the basis of collective responsibility, he said. Referring to the development agenda for the coming years, Mr. Chennithala mooted the idea of sustainable development that suited the State, with its emphasis on optimum utilisation of land and attracting investments from the private sector and in PPP mode.
He says FIR will be filed against Babu if prima facie evidence is available after preliminary probe
