Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) vice president M.M. Hassan has said that there is a need to wrap up investigation into the bar bribery case in a time-bound manner.
“The Home Minister has been apprised of the necessity,” he said at a press conference here on Saturday.
The investigation against Finance Minister K.M. Mani had been dragging on. Despite having no evidence to put Mr. Mani in the dock, hotelier Biju Ramesh [who levelled the allegations] was trying to use it as a political weapon.
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His charges against ministers including, Excise Minister K. Babu, demonstrated that Mr. Ramesh was ill-motivated politically. While he claimed giving Rs.1 crore to Mr. Mani for renewal of bar licence, the Excise Minister was being accused, three months later, of receiving a bribe of Rs.10 crore.
If his real motive was to expose corruption, why had not he revealed details of the Rs.10-crore bribe early on? Mr. Hassan asked.