CPM state secretary M V Govindan on Thursday termed "extraordinary" home minister Ramesh Chennithala's decision to give a clean chit to Chief Minister V D Satheesan in the Punarjani case.

Govindan said that it was extraordinary to quickly close a case that has a strong body of inculpatory evidence. Interestingly, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) under the LDF government had thrice failed to come up with any incriminatory evidence against Satheesan.

While in power, the CPM had charged Satheesan with embezzlement of funds mobilised for the rehabilitation of the victims of the 2018 floods in his constituency Paravur under the Punarjani project. It was also alleged that Satheesan had violated the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act by travelling to England and soliciting funds from non-resident Indians.

In January 2021, while he was Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan had insinuated in the Assembly that Satheesan's initiative to construct homes for the victims of the 2018 floods in his constituency was suspicious. The CPM's then Kalliassery MLA T V Rajesh had alleged in the Assembly that Satheesan had sought 500 pounds from non-resident Keralites. The vicious attack on Satheesan was widely seen as a CPM ploy to neutralise or at least drown out the charges of corruption against the CPM in the Wadakkancherry Life Mission Project.

Govindan on Thursday said that Satheesan had not secured the permission of the Legislative Secretariat and also the Ministry of Home Affairs. Fact is, then Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan, while rejecting the VACB request to initiate a probe against Satheesan in 2021, had said that the MLA had sought and was granted permission by the Legislature Secretariat to travel to England. The then Speaker did not find anything compelling in the VACB's findings. 

To establish that Satheesan's travel to England was a violation, Govindan recalled that the centre had in 2018 declined a request even by the Chief Minister to travel abroad to mobilise money for the flood victims. Fact is, a second VACB probe under the LDF government had said that central clearance was required only for official visits done as part of a state delegation. In this case, Satheesan had travelled as a private individual.

However, Govindan maintained that the law did not grant the right to solicit funds from abroad. The CPM state secretary then played a video of Satheesan soliciting funds for Punarjani at a gathering of non-resident Indians in England's Birmingham in 2018. In the video, Satheesan can be heard persuading donors. He says that the donated money will first go to a family with a paralysed man. Then, families with differently-abled and also autism and cerebral palsy-affected children will be considered. And three, single-mother families. 

"He went to England, mobilised people and asked them to pay at least 500 pounds," Govindan said, a charge first made in 2020 by T V Rajesh. This remark was slightly misleading. Rather than directly asking the NRIs to contribute at least 500 pounds as Govindan claims, Satheesan is only telling them that a contribution of 500 pounds would benefit five flood-affected families. 

Govindan said that the government should probe the amount received and also the individuals from whom the funds were mobilised. "A central agency should also be involved as there is the involvement of foreign funds," the CPM state secretary said. 

This was also the recommendation of the third VACB probe. While it closed the case in December 2025 citing lack of evidence, the VACB mentioned in passing that the probe could be conducted by designated agencies like the CBI as foreign funds were involved. However, the previous LDF government did not recommend a CBI probe.

Section 3 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act prohibits MLAs from accepting foreign donation. In Punarjani's case, all the funds were routed through Manapatt Foundation and not a single rupee could be traced to Satheesan's or the Congress party's accounts.