Posted on: 13 Dec 2008
Thiruvananthapuram:All the files pertaining to the controversial Killiroor sex case are intact, Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said here Friday.
K. Suresh Kumar, an Indian Administrative Service officer who was earlier working with Achuthanandan's office, told the media last week that two officials in the chief minister's office were hiding this sensitive file.
In a three-page statement here Friday, Achuthanandan said allegations about the missing files were baseless.
'The files are intact,' said Achuthanandan.
He asked people not to be misled in the campaign now unleashed by the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The mysterious death of a teenage girl in a private hospital in Kottayam in 2004, known as the Killiroor sex case, has stirred up fresh controversy in the state.
Phillip Thomas, Thiruvananthapuram chief judicial magistrate, hearing a petition Wednesday directed the police to register a case against State Health Minister P.K. Sreemathi and two officials in Achuthanandan's office over allegedly hiding the file containing information about the case.
The six people named to be investigated include Sreemathi, private secretary to Achuthanandan S. Rajendran, political secretary to Achuthanandan K.N. Balagopal, the children of two state ministers and Latha Nair, an accused in the case.
The case was registered Thursday by the Cantonment police station.
The Kerala state unit of the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) Thursday asked Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan, who belongs to Kerala, to inquire into the manner in which the Thomas asked the police to file a case against Sreemathi.
Following his outburst, Kumar was suspended Wednesday evening from the post of managing director of a state-owned cooperative bank, pending inquiry.
Achuthanandan, who was then leader of the opposition, had said that according to the doctors the victim, Shari's health deteriorated after a VIP visited her.
Shari's father Surendran later alleged that the VIP to whom Achuthanandan referred was Sreemathi.
State Congress chief Ramesh Chennithala said that when in opposition Achuthanandan always said that the then chief minister Oommen Chandy would be jailed for the various things he did.
'It now appears that Achuthanandan is on his way to the jail,' Chennithala told reporters in Kochi Friday.
No files related to the case exist: Home ministry
At a time when chief minister V S Achuthanandan saying that all files relating to Kiliroor case are intact, earlier an affidavit filed by additional secretary to Home ministry T.S.Anith to State Right to Information Commission it is said that no files relating to the case, including the complaint letter filed by victim Sari's parents exists.
In this the the commission which clarified that such a complaint was already furnished, directed the ministry to find out the files within 15 days in an order issued on April 24, 2008. All this point towards the fact that the files are missing.
Case against minister: CPI-M sees conspiracy
Facing some embarrassment over a court order asking police to file a case against Health Minister P K Sreemathi and five others for alleged suppression of a file relating to Kiliroor sex scandal case, the CPI-M in Kerala said efforts by vested interests to tarnish the image of party leaders were not going to succeed.
'Efforts to demoralise the party, its leaders and workers by levelling baseless allegations against them would be rejected by the people', the CPI-M state secretariat said in a statement.
The Kiliroor case, relating to the death of a teenaged girl who was allegedly the victim of sexual exploitation, was something that happened when the Congress-led UDF was in power, the statement said.
Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, who was the opposition leader then, and other CPI (M) leaders including Sreemathi, had launched a powerful campaign for a high level probe in the case. On coming to power,Achuthanandan himself had sought a probe by a high level CBI officer in the case. Despite these being the facts, it appeared now that some vested interests were trying to malign the party leaders, the statement said.
While admitting a private petition, Judicial First Class Magistrate Philip Thomas had on Wednesday asked the police to register a case and investigate the petitioner's contention that Sreemathi and others including two personal staff members in Chief Minister's office had sought to suppress a file created for seeking a high level CBI probe in the case.
Meanwhile, Achuthanandan said he had asked the Centre to have the case probed by a CBI officer in the DIG rank as back as July 2006. The demand was repeated again based on the complaint of the girl's father that the CBI, which was already probing the case, was less serious in their investigation to bring out the truth, the Chief Minister said in a statement.
He said the demand for the probe by a high-ranking CBI officer was directly taken up with the then Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil.
It was glossing over these facts that a propaganda was now going on that the government had suppressed the case. He said it was the opposition UDF and the BJP which were spreading this canard based on the allegation of an IAS officer, who is now under suspension, that there had been suppression of some key files in the Chief Minister's office.
The state cabinet had earlier this week placed under suspension K Suresh Kumar, IAS, for making open comments against the Chief Minister's office.
No comments:
Post a Comment