Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan has asked the government to immediately record the statement of Kerala Bar Hotel Association office-bearer Biju Ramesh, under section 164 of the CrPC, in the bar bribery case involving Excise Minister K. Babu.
Mr. Achuthanandan said in a statement here on Sunday that the case against Mr. Babu was based on a mention that Mr. Biju Ramesh made in his 164 statement against Finance Minister K.M. Mani. Mr. Biju Ramesh had also expressed his willingness to make a detailed statement against Mr. Babu. Mr. Achuthanandan said the course of events justified his demand for a separate first investigation report (FIR) against Mr. Babu.
VACB criticised
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) was acting at the behest of the government. It had not forwarded the compact disc (CD) and hard disk submitted by Mr. Biju Ramesh to the forensic laboratory so far.
Now, the VACB was trying to seek the permission of the court to send it to the laboratory, he said.
Laxity alleged
The vigilance had not taken any step to get the CD examined in a time-bound manner in the case against Mr. Babu, he said.
Mr. Achuthanandan had earlier asked the VACB Director to register a separate FIR against Mr. Babu as the allegations against him ‘were not part of the case involving Mr. Mani.’ He had alleged that the move to club the two cases was part of an attempt by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and his party colleagues to cover up the unholy nexus involving the Excise Minister, officials, and bar hoteliers.
Challenging the legal advice received by the VACB in the case involving Mr. Babu, the Leader of the Opposition had said that the CrPC had no provision to club two distinct cases for investigation.
