THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has come down heavily on speaker P Sreeramakrishnan for ‘interfering in enforcement directorate’s probe into Life Mission case’.
“The speaker has unnecessarily dragged the ethics committee of the assembly into this. He is trying to protect the interests of state government. I register my strong protest against this,” wrote Chennithala in a letter to the speaker.
“It is quite strange that the ethics committee which has huge number of pending files before them showed undue haste in taking a decision on this. It is also strange how the committee can seek an explanation from a central agency which is probing into the financial fraud that happened in a state project. The ethics committee has no jurisdiction in seeking an explanation from the ED, he further wrote.
The decision to seek the explanation from the ED was taken by the ethics committee based on the complaint filed by CPM MLA James Mathew. In his complaint, which he had handed over to the speaker, Mathew said ED has breached the privilege by asking files of a state project. Mathew said the move by ED would paralyse the implementation of the project in the entire state.
MLA Akkara moves Court:
Congress MLA Anil Akkara has approached the high court with a plea to complete Life Mission project in a timebound manner. He was the complainant in the case registered by CBI alleging violation of foreign-funding regulation in the project.