Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan has denied the charges that he had misused his official position by facilitating out of way appointment of his son V.A. Arun Kumar as director of ICT academy and Additional Director of the State-owned Institute of Human Resources Development (IHRD) during his tenure as Chief Minister.
“The argument that I had intervened in the appointment of my son (Arun Kumar) in top posts during my tenure as Chief Minister was a blatant lie,” Mr. Achuthanandan said at a function to felicitate K. Purushothaman, senior CPI(M) leader from Kasaragod district and leading lawyer upon his completing 50 years as a lawyer, here on Saturday.
“In fact, when the matter had come up before me, I had asked the officials concerned to defer the decision,” he said. He said the Assembly Committee to probe the alleged irregularities in the appointment of Mr. Arun Kumar was made following his personal appeal to the Speaker.
He said the findings of the Assembly panel, headed by V.D. Satheeshan, amounted to stifling the facts and truth. Mr. Satheeshan's compulsion to come out with such “baseless” findings was to please the ruling United Democratic Front, Mr. Achuthanandan said.
He lauded Mr. Purushothaman, who represented the erstwhile Hosdurg Assembly segment twice in the past, as a gentleman who took special care in ensuring justice to the poor and the needy.
