Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy is facing five corruption charges over the finalization of Rs.256 crore anti-pollution plant, during his period as Chief Minister in the year 2006. Opposition Party (CPM) moved an adjournment motion in the Assembly to discuss a letter that surfaced in the media on Monday about a letter which Chandy had wrote to the Chairman of the Supreme Court monitoring committee in 2005-2006 as Chief Minister to extend the time to commission a pollution control plant at the State Owned Travancore Titanium Products Limited (TTPL) in Trivandrum. The opposition party alleged that this was a corrupt deal to give the nod to central public sector unit to set up the plant at an inflated coast of Rs.256.10 crore. But Chandy rejected the oppositions demand for a CBI probe stating the matter was pending in the court and saying it was not right to take a decision in this regard. Thomas Issac of CPI-M while moving the motion said that undue haste was shown by Chandy who had signed the deal for a pollution plant at the end of his last term. Issac said that the entire project was fragmented by our government when the implementing agency hiked the project cost from Rs.256.10 crore to Rs.144 crore. The CAG has also pointed out serious flaws in the contract.
Issac demanded for a Rs. 100 crore corruption deals in this and further demanded Chandy's resignation. The then State Minister Kareem said the deal was a corrupt one and on two occasions they asked the CBI to probe into the scam but it was not allowed by them. Chandy in response said that he is ready to face all the consequences and wrote three letters to the Chairman of the Supreme Court monitoring committee. Leader of Opposition V.S Achuthanadan intervened in the matter and asked if the government was willing to order a CBI probe. Chandy, in reply said that the matter is under the scrutiny of the court and it would be premature to order the CBI to look into the probe.
At this, Achuthanandan led the entire opposition out of the house and through a voice vote, the treasury bench dismissed the adjournment motion.
News reported by AR for Newsvision
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