Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said that the Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau (VACB) has filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Finance Minister K.M. Mani in the bar bribery case only after getting proper legal opinion in the matter.
Speaking to journalists at the Kozhikode guest house on Saturday, the Chief Minister also blamed the media for raking up a controversy over unnecessary speculation. He also refused to comment further on the issue.
Meanwhile the Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, who was also in Kozhikode, told media persons that the law would take its own course in the case. “There is nothing unusual in the meeting between a Home
Minister and a Finance Minister,” he replied when asked about his visit to Mr. Mani’s residence in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
Mr. Chennithala also pointed out that “there is no impropriety involved in the meeting. We are Cabinet colleagues. If he wants, he can meet me or if I want, I can meet him, to discuss various issues,” he said.
He also said that his meeting with the Finance Minister on Friday should not be linked to the bar bribery case.
Mr. Mani has been named first accused in the FIR. Meanwhile, it is learnt that the Vigilance Director Vinson M. Paul has directed VACB officials to speed up the probe in the case.
The case was that Mr. Mani allegedly accepted a bribe of Rs. 50 lakh from bar owners for reopening closed bars in the State. However the bar owners had earlier alleged that they had paid Rs. 1 crore in three
installments to Mr. Mani.
