Kerala govt gives nod for probe against Congress leader

The Kerala government on Saturday granted permission to the vigilance department to initiate a probe against former health minister and Congress leader V S Shivakumar in a disproportionate assets case.

In an order dated February 14, released on Saturday, the state government granted permission for the probe. Earlier, the Governor Arif Mohammed Khan too had given the green signal.

"The vigilance director had requested permission to register a case against the former minister in a matter related to disproportionate assets," the order read.

Vigilance had earlier received many corruption complaints against the former minister, including purchasing of a hospital, unaccounted foreign travels and many transactions in benami names.

Vigilance reportedly found that the assets of Shivakumar, his family and that of his personal staff had increased disproportionally.

However, Shivakumar, who met the media, said the case was filed by some anonymous person, and was rejected earlier.

"This is a politically motivated case. When we have raised the issue of corruption as pointed out in the CAG report, they have brought this up. This case is to divert the attention from the corruption of the government. I will co- operate during the probe and take necessary action after discussing with the party leadership," Shivakumar said.

Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala also lashed out at the Left government and said the move was politically motivated.

"The United Democratic Front (UDF) will face this case both legally and politically. We are sure that Shivakumar is innocent," Chennithala said.

Meanwhile, another Opposition UDF MLA V K Ebrahimkunju, who was former PWD minister, appeared before the vigilance team for questioning in the Palarivattom over-bridge case.