Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government, which has issued an order for the transfer of the case against six persons, including former chief minister Oommen Chandy, to the CBI, has kept aside the complaint against Kerala Congress (M) chairman Jose K Mani.
A case was filed against Jose K Mani in 2017 accusing him of sexual abuse. The complainant has, however, said so far only his statements have been recorded. The complaint was lodged with the DGP of the south zone.
While in other cases, there was a demand to appear before a magistrate to record confidential statements, that was not done in the complaint against Jose K Mani. No FIR has been lodged in the case. She had written a letter to the Crime Branch when the investigation dragged on. She got a reply saying that an investigation was under way, the complainant said.
However, the government issued a notification leaving open the possibility of transferring the case against Jose K Mani to the CBI if necessary.
The notification said that six FIRs and cases related to them are being handed over to the CBI. If an FIR is registered in the case against Jose K Mani, it, too, can be handed over to the CBI.
There are those who think that this case will help the CPM to tame Jose K Mani. In 2015, when he was the CPM state secretary, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had demanded that a case should be registered against Jose K Mani for sexual harassment.
Responding to the controversy, Jose K Mani said: “The government receives many complaints. The complaints have to be investigated. The allegation against me in the solar case is baseless. There have been similar allegations during the previous elections as well.”
