Chief Minister V D Satheesan, on Wednesday, said that a decision on the Enforcement Directorate's letter to the State Police Chief would be taken after it was subjected to legal scrutiny. "The law will take its own course," the CM said.

Nonetheless, adding a greater twist to the bribery scandal, Satheesan said that there was more to it than meets the eye. Without revealing details, the CM hinted that the ED letter contained graver irregularities than what was already in the public domain.

Satheesan said the ED's communication was a legal step taken on the basis of Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, which deals with intelligence sharing among agencies.

The CM rejected suggestions that there was a possible political angle to the issue. "This is a strictly legal issue, and there is nothing political in it," the CM said. He also sought to differentiate the allegations against Pinarayi Vijayan and those against UDF leaders whose names had also figured in the diary of S N Sasidharan Kartha, the MD of Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL).

When asked about the culpability of UDF leaders, the CM said: "This has been clarified even earlier. Political parties will take money from companies and institutions. This (Pinarayi's) case is different." The hint was that UDF leaders like Ramesh Chennithala and P K Kunhalikutty had collected money from private individuals for political activities and not for personal advancement like in the case of the former Chief Minister.

The fact is, no proof has still been adduced, either by the investigating agency or the individuals concerned, to support this contention.

Before he could be drawn into further questions about UDF leaders, the CM added a darker layer to the charges against Pinarayi. "The ED's letter contains more than just this case (CMRL-Exalogic bribery). There are cases far more grave than these," the CM said. He said it would be improper for him to reveal the details contained in the ED's letter.

Satheesan was also asked about the incongruity of the Congress national leadership's criticism of the ED's motives and his government's seeming acceptance of the ED's charge against Pinarayi. "We have not yet taken a decision," the CM said. He said a decision would be taken only through legal means.

"Shouldn't we examine the gravity of the issues that we have been informed? A set of evidence has been handed over. We cannot return the letter saying it was sent by the ED," the CM said.

He said the Congress did not approve of the ED's functioning, but even then Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi cooperated when they were summoned in the National Herald case. "They appeared before the ED and sat before them for hours. And Congress workers were not destroying ED vehicles outside. They fully cooperated with the ED investigation. Nothing could be done to them even after interrogating them for 55 hours," Satheesan said. He was contrasting the peaceful ways of the Congress with the violence unleashed by the CPM workers when ED officials interrogated Veena Vijayan at her father's residence in the capital in May this year.