Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly VD Satheesan on Friday accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who has claimed that his hands are clean and therefore the allegations against his daughter would not affect him, of running away from the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) probe.
Speaking to media persons in Kasargod, Satheesan said that when the SFIO started a probe against his daughter’s firm, the state run Kerala state Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) approached the High Court, seeking stay on the Central agencies probe.
The Chief Minister brought a Supreme Court advocate, spending Rs 25 lakh from the taxpayers’ money. Now, as the Kerala High Court refused to stay the SFIO probe, the Chief Minister’s daughter has approached the Karnataka High Court, seeking to stay the Central agency’s probe against her firm.
Satheesan said the Chief Minister Vijayan said in the Assembly that his two hands are clean and that he is ready to face any investigation but now he is scared of the SFIO probe and is running to stall the probe. If his hands are clean, why should he be scared of the SFIO probe, asked Satheesan.
He said that the Income Tax Interim Settlement Board (ITISB) has found that the Chief Minister’s daughter’s firm has received money from the mining company CMRL, without providing any service to them and this payment was made because of her relationship with a person who is holding an important position in the state.
Alleging that this important person is none other than the Chief Minister, Satheesan demanded that Pinarayi Vijayan should be made an accused in the monthly pay-off case.