CM, Opposition spar in UDF motion on gold smuggling case

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vjayan in Assembly. Photo: Manorama/File

Thiruvananthapuram: The discussion on the Opposition's adjournment motion regarding the gold smuggling case, in which allegations had cropped up against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his family members and top bureaucrats, witnessed heated arguments.

The opposition asked the chief minister why he did not file a defamation suit against gold smuggling case prime accused Swapna Suresh if her recent disclosures about the alleged role of him and his family members was baseless. They urged him to resign from the top office and face probe in the case.

 

They said Vijayan did not bother to send even a legal notice against the accused whatever startling things she had revealed and claimed that the truth would come out one day anyhow even if "it was covered with a gold vessel".

Congress member Shafi Parambil, who introduced the motion, said people want to know the facts about the issue.

Shafi Parambil during the UDF motion.

The MLA said the opposition has no agenda in the issue and the controversy was not "cooked in their kitchen" and they did not bring it out before the public.

When he mentioned Suresh's statement about the alleged involvement of Vijayan and his family members in the gold smuggling case, state Law Minister P Rajeev raised a point of order and said the charges were part of her statement given by Suresh before the court and it could not be mentioned in the House as per procedures.

However, Parambil rejected his argument saying that he referred to her revelations before the media about the content of her confession statement and it was not against the rules.

"Why the Chief Minister is yet to file a defamation case against the accused if her disclosures were wrong and baseless," he asked.

He also posed a series of questions regarding the intervention of controversial journalist Shaj Kiran in the case, his alleged close contact with senior police officers, the removal of the vigilance director in connection with the case and so on.

"Why has the police registered a case against Swapna Sureh for conspiracy over his statement given before a court under the Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code?" he asked and said it might be a first-of-its-kind incident in the country.

Mathew Kuzhalnadan (Congress), N Shamsudeen (IUML), K K Rema (RMP), Mons Joseph Kerala Congress (J) and Opposition Leader V D Satheeshan mounted the attack on the chief minister and the government on the issue.

Mathew Kuzhalnadam pointed out that Vijayan had said he did not know Suresh when the controversy erupted for the first time two years ago.

"Why did you want to opt for the diplomatic channel to send a parcel to Dubai. Does the state government have no other means to send it?" he asked, referring to the charges of the accused that a package was sent via the UAE Consulate here to Dubai on behalf of Vijayan in 2016 and it was found to contain currency notes.

N Shamsuddin (IUML) read an old Facebook post of the controversial journalist, whom the opposition alleged to have played a mediator in the case to persuade Suresh to withdraw her statement, praising Vijayan to show his closeness to the ruling party and the Chief Minister.

He also urged the Marxist veteran to resign, upholding political ethics, saying that his continuation in the office was against democratic propriety.

During his speech, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan attacked the government and asked why the Chief Minister failed to understand the move of his principal secretary M Sivasankar when he moved around with Suresh to many places, including abroad.

Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan

Alleging implementing two justices for the same crime, Satheesan claimed when Sivasankar who was reinstated in service was permitted to write a book making revelations about the gold smuggling case, the government filed a case of conspiracy against Suresh for making revelations in her Section 164 statement.

He also sought to know whether the chief minister was ready to hand over the smuggling case to CBI as he ordered a CBI investigation on the allegations raised by solar panel case accused Saritha S Nair.

Satheesan dared the chief minister to order a CBI probe on the gold smuggling case.

However, the ruling LDF members raised strong objections against the opposition members levelling charges against Vijayan on the floor of the House, saying the allegations were part of a joint agenda of the Congress and the BJP to destroy the Marxist party and its strong chief minister.

V Joy and A N Shamseer of the CPM, party backed independent K T Jaleel, P Balachandran (CPI) and Mathew T Thomas of JD(S) defended the chief minister on behalf of the ruling front.

V Joy showed the picture of Shaj Kiran with Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala and BJP veteran Kummanam Rajasekharan to prove his closeness with the opposition party leaders.

He charged that the opposition was raising the issue out of their "intolerance" against the LDF's historic victory for the second consecutive time in the recent Assembly polls.

He also satirically said the 'second episode' of the gold smuggling case would also die down soon but nothing would happen to the LDF government or Vijayan.

While A N Shamseer suspected a "Congress-RSS propaganda" behind the allegations and tried to corner the opposition by raising the solar cheating case which had rocked the previous Congress-led UDF government led by Oommen Chandy.

Former minister K T Jaleel (LDF), who also faced charges by Suresh, and K B Ganesh Kumar (KCB) were also among those who spoke on behalf of the ruling front during the over two-and-half-hour long discussion.

The discussion began at 1 pm.

Earlier, the government agreed to take up the issue for discussion in the House as the Congress moved a notice seeking adjournment motion over it during Zero Hour.

The chief minister informed the House that they were ready for discussion halting the other businesses when Congress legislator Shafi Parambil sought the notice for the motion alleging that the government is trying to scuttle the probe in the case.

The chief minister said it can be discussed as the topic is of interest to the public.

The opposition has been vehemently criticising Vijayan and the Left government over the recent revelations of gold smuggling case prime accused Swapna Suresh.

This would be the second adjournment motion being discussed by the second term of the Pinarayi-led LDF government; the first one was on the Silverline project.

The Assembly proceedings began without any hurdles on Tuesday. The Opposition cooperated during the Question Hour.

(With PTI inputs)

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