The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) State secretariat has demanded steps to prosecute Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in the light of the disclosure by Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson relating to the palmolein import deal.
Demand
In a statement here on Thursday, the CPI(M) secretariat pointed out that there was need to register a case against Mr. Chandy, who was Finance Minister when the deal was struck in 1991, as Mr. Thomson, the then Supplyco Managing Director, was now on record that he had written his dissent to the proposal in the relevant file.
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Mr. Thomson should also be ready to tender evidence on the subject in court, it said.
The CPI(M) leadership alleged that an attempt was on to intimidate the Chief Secretary for his revelation. Mr. Chandy had justified former Food Minister T.H. Mustafa’s attack on Mr. Thomson and several Cabinet members are reported to have been critical of the Chief Secretary. All this showed that the government was intolerant towards officials who refused to toe their line, the CPI(M) secretariat said.