Congress downplayed a Kerala vigilance court order for a fresh probe to ascertain if Chief Minister Oomen Chandy had any role in the Palmolein oil import deal.
Congress Monday downplayed a Kerala vigilance court order for a fresh probe to ascertain if Chief Minister Oomen Chandy had any role in the 1992 Palmolein oil import deal.
"Investigation does not mean indictment," said party spokesman Manish Tewari when asked about the court order seen as a setback to the Kerala chief minister.
Tewari said it is a two-decade old case and there have been a couple of inquiries and the Chief Minister did not figure in that.
When Chandy became Chief Minister, he instituted a fresh inquiry. It has not passed any strictures against the Chief Minister. "If there needs to be any further investigation regarding a couple of aspects, so be it. Investigation does not mean indictment," said Tewari.
A vigilance court in Kerala ordered a probe to ascertain if he had any role in the 1992 palmolein oil import deal as the then finance minister in the K Karunakaran government.
The long-pending corruption case cost PJ Thomas the post of Chief Vigilance Commissioner. Thomas was listed as the sixth accused in the case relating to import of 32,000 tonnes of palmolein from Malyasia causing loss to the tune of Rs2.32 crore to the exchequer.
Thomas, whose appointment as CVC was quashed by the Supreme Court, was the food secretary then and a director of the state Civil Supplies Corporation.
The case had taken a politically significant turn in March this year on the eve of the assembly polls with former food minister and Congress leader TH Musthaffa mentioning Chandy's name in his discharge plea.
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