KPCC president alleges faulty investigation over Bar Bribery case, slams Kerala CM

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Mullappally Ramachandran, while addressing a press conference on Sunday, hit out at Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the Bar Bribery case. He alleged that the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau enquiry is not neutral and the officials involved in the investigation are CM's "favourite people".

"The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau in Kerala consist of a group of people who are obedient to the Chief Minister. How many vigilance inquiries did the State government order? Nothing has moved forward in the case so far. When the Central Government said that it will go ahead with any inquiry, the Chief Minister decided to conduct the inquiry by putting forward his favourite people. Hence, obviously, it will not be neutral and honest. Their report will just be a mouthpiece of the Chief Minister," Ramachandran said while urging Central Agencies to investigate the matter.

"I request any other agency to investigate this bar bribery case. The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau in Kerala should not look into the matter. Let the central agencies investigate the matter. The involvement of two MLAs in the case should be investigated," he added.

Hitting out at the Chief Minister, Ramachandran said, "The attitude of the Chief Minister is the same as the attitude of Louis XIV. He is still in that mood. He is insulting the people of Kerala by supporting all corruption-related activities and wrongdoings."

Bar bribery case was one among the big allegations faced by former UDF and Finance Minister KM Mani raised by Biju Ramesh, working president of Kerala Bar Hotels Association.

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Chennithala dragged into the case

Biju Ramesh had on November 23 alleged that the probe into the bar bribery scam came to an abrupt end after late Kerala Congress chief KM Mani met the state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at his residence.

Biju Ramesh also alleged that the leader of opposition in Kerala, Ramesh Chennithala requested not to reveal his name in the confidential statement, a reason why he did not take his name. Retaliating to the allegations, Chennithala said that he will file a defamation case against Biju Ramesh for making "false allegations".

Meanwhile, BJP also targeted the Kerala CM, by stating that Biju Ramesh's revelation that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan terminated the investigation of the bar bribery case after KM Mani visited him exposes the UDF-LDF adjustment politics.

(With ANI inputs)

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