Even as Kerala is facing a fund crunch prompting it to impose regulations on the treasury, the state government has cleared a bill of Rs 24.5 lakh for senior advocate Maninder Singh who argued against CBI investigation in the Periya double murder case.
Youth Congress activists Kripesh (19) and Sharath Lal (24) were murdered shortly before the Lok Sabha elections, on February 17, 2019.
The other day the state Finance Department had issued orders placing restrictions on clearing bills over Rs 25 lakh.
The payment to the senior advocate has been approved based on a letter sent by the advocate general on February 21.
The state had been under pressure for using public money to move against a CBI probe in the case that had the CPM on the backfoot.
The state government reportedly spent Rs 88 lakh to stop the CBI probe in the case. A host of senior advocates namely Maninder Singh, Prabhas Bajaj and Ranjith Kumar had appeared for Kerala.
However, the Supreme Court declined the state's pleas and the CBI started its probe in September 2019. It had found 21 accused including former CPM MLA KV Kunhiraman.
