The sensational Dubai fraud case involving Binoy Kodiyeri, elder son of CPI(M)’s senior Politbureau member and Kerala State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, triggered chaotic scenes in the Assembly on Tuesday even as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan struggled hard to establish that his party, the CPI(M), and the LDF Government it leads had nothing to do with the controversy.
The Congress-led UDF Opposition alleged in the House that not just Binoy but Kodiyeri’s younger son Bineesh and Jithin Raj, son of CPI(M)’s former minister EP Jayarajan, were facing fraud cases in Dubai. It demanded a probe to find out whether Kodiyeri, a former minister, had any involvement in the irregularity allegedly committed by his son.
A Dubai court had on February 1 imposed a travel ban on Binoy, a businessman, in a case pertaining to the charge that he had duped a UAE company, JAAS Tourism LLC, of AED 1 million (Rs 1.72 crore). The ban order also instructed Binoy to “deposit” his passport with the court. Binoy will not be able to leave Dubai till the case is settled.
In a complaint allegedly lodged with the central leadership of the CPI(M), JAAS Tourism managing director Hasan Ismaeel Abdulla Almarzooqi had said that Benoy had failed to repay a loan aggregating to over AED 4.5 million he had availed through the company and the debt had now grown to AED 7 million (Rs 13 crore) including interest and legal charges.
Trouble started in the Assembly with Congress legislator Anil Akkara seeking leave for an adjournment motion on the issue. The demand was met with stiff objection from the ruling front members who resorted to shouting in order to prevent Akkara from speaking, and Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan requested the Opposition to withdraw from the move to raise the issue.
However, the Opposition stuck to its demand and the Speaker allowed Akkara to move the notice for the adjournment motion. LDF members opposed this by saying that the notice was being moved in violation of the Assembly rules and precedents and that the Opposition was leveling baseless allegations merely on the basis of media reports.
Intervening in the matter, Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress said that the matter was being brought up with utmost responsibility and not on the basis of media reports. “There is nothing wrong if the sons of leaders are running businesses. But discussions will be held if they have committed fraud,” he said.
Speaking on the issue, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said there was a deliberate and unnecessary attempt to drag the CPI(M) and its State secretary into the controversy. Pointing out that the CPI(M) secretary’s sons were businessmen, he argued that it was quite natural for problems to crop up between businessmen.
“There is no need to discuss the issues that have now come up because they have nothing to do with the Assembly. There is no need to discuss things that are being discussed in the ‘marketplace’. It is an issue between two individuals who are not related to the House. Some people are trying to make political mileage out of this,” the CM said.
Claiming that nobody from the CPI(M) had any direct involvement in the controversy, the Chief Minister pointed out that the issue was not something that could be settled in Kerala or even in India as the alleged fraud had originated in Dubai and the case has been registered in a court in the UAE city.
Pinarayi asked how an incident that had taken place in a foreign country could become the subject of discussion through an adjournment motion in the State Assembly.