E P Jayarajan, the convener of the Left Democratic Front (LDF), said the accusations levelled against T Veena, daughter of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, over monthly payments being made to her by a company were 'absolutely baseless'.
Jayarajan said in order to pursue political vendetta, an unnecessary controversy was being stoked over a transaction that was conducted in a transparent manner. He added that Veena is running a consultancy and has received money on record after deducting tax, for providing services.
It is the company that must explain what services were provided. He also demanded that the children of politicians should not be victimised due to political vendetta.
“This is a baseless allegation. She is the consultant of a major establishment. A company buys the services of a consultant. There is an agreement for this purpose between two companies. All the transactions in this business are conducted transparently. What could be the problem with this? Why are you trying to create suspicions in the minds of the people by unnecessarily raising baseless allegations? How many children of Union Ministers are working in consultancies? How many consultancies are functioning here?” he wondered.
He added that in this era, there are a number of companies and consultancies in the information technology sector. “They are consultancies which provide required services to others. Veena’s company too is one such establishment. The money was received after deducting the TDS and the income tax too was paid. All these are on record. Political rivalry should be settled at the political level. The children of political leaders should not be slandered for that purpose. Two companies sign an agreement and what services are provided is a matter between those companies. Is it not the company concerned that must make a complaint? Those who do not know about such matters should not venture to slander others. These are not good practices and the media should stay away from such trends. These are all mortal sins. You should not use such things as a means to pursue political vendetta and to destroy families,” Jayarajan further said.
Veena Vijayan gets Rs 1.72 crore from CMRL
In a Malayala Manorama exposé , it was revealed that chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter, T Veena, allegedly received Rs 1.72 crore from the private company Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) in monthly instalments in the last three years. The New Delhi bench of the Income Tax Interim Settlement Board ruled that the money was given considering the relationship with a 'prominent person'. Veena and her firm, Exalogic Solutions, had entered into an agreement with the CMRL to provide IT, marketing consultancy, and software services to the latter. However, no services were provided, as the income tax investigation found. CMRL managing director S N Sasidharan Kartha told the Income Tax Department that the money was, however, paid in monthly instalments as per the contract. The Income Tax Department argued that Rs 1.72 crore was received by Veena and Exalogic during 2017–20, which is an "illegal transaction."
