Probe Against Chennithala: Legal advice says Governor’s approval not required

The Kerala government has received legal advice which states that the Governor's permission is not required to initiate a vigilance investigation against opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala in connection with the bar bribery case. The state department of Home Affairs had officially written to the Assembly Speaker seeking approval to initiate a case against Ramesh Chennithala.

Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has received legal advice indicating that the Governor’s nod is not required to initiate a probe against the state opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala in connection with the bar bribery case.

The state government had sought legal advice to initiate a vigilance investigation against Ramesh Chennithala based on the statement and allegations made by Biju Ramesh, a bar owner.

Biju Ramesh had disclosed that Ramesh Chennithala has received a bribe of Rs 1 crore when he was an MLA and the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president.

As he had no cabinet rank at the time of the alleged incident, the Governor’s nod is not required to initiate a vigilance case against the present opposition leader, as per the legal advice.

Instead, only the assembly speaker’s nod is required for proceeding with the case, because Chennithala was a legislator then.

Based on Biju Ramesh’s statement, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) had carried out a preliminary investigation in the case and had sought the Government’s approval in registering the case against the Opposition Leader.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had also given the approval to the Vigilance.

The state department of Home Affairs had officially written to the Assembly Speaker seeking approval to initiate a case against Ramesh Chennithala.

As speaker P Sreeramakrishnan has gone to Gujarat to participate in a Speakers’ conference, a decision on the probe against Chennithala would be made after he returns.