By IANS
Kozhikode (Kerala) : The Kerala government, facing the opposition’s persistent demand for a probe into a controversial land purchase by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Monday said it was not against an inquiry.
Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan Monday told reporters that the government was not averse to a vigilance probe into the deal by the ISRO to set up an educational institute.
The opposition has alleged that the land bought from a businessman in fact belonged to the state forest department.
But the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government was seen as under pressure from the Communist Party of India (CPI), one of the constituents of the ruling alliance, not to order any probe.
The two-week assembly session that concluded Sep 20 was repeatedly disrupted by the opposition.
ISRO had purchased 82 acres of land in Ponmudi, 75 km from here, from high-profile businessman Savy Mano Mathew for a space education institute. The opposition maintains that the land belongs to the forest department and was sold in connivance with Forest Minister Binoy Viswom who belongs to the CPI.
“All the files regarding the land sale are being looked into by various ministers and if there is a need for a vigilance probe, the cabinet meeting scheduled for Wednesday would take an appropriate decision,” Balakrishnan told reporters here.
Balakrishnan’s remarks came after four ministers from the CPI had a meeting with the party’s state secretary Veliyam Bharghavan, who till Sunday was against a probe.
A source close to the CPI top brass said that the party was prepared for a probe albeit with certain conditions.
“The CPI is prepared but on condition that Viswom would continue to be minister when the probe takes place. Also, they have demanded that it should cover all the events from 2000 onwards,” said the source.
As the opposition has been demanding Viswom’s resignation and a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe, the Achuthanandan government has been blaming Leader of Opposition Oommen Chandy of the Congress for framing a law in 2005 that allowed for such irregularities.
“We are not averse to a thorough probe right from the time our government was in power. More than anyone else, we would like to come clean out of all the baseless allegations that the Left government has been alleging for long,” said state Congress president Ramesh Chennithala, while launching a protest march in Kerala capital Thiruvananthapuram demanding a probe.
The state government last week suspended a top forest department official, transferred two officials and ordered an inquiry into the role of five others in the deal.