Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

KPCC chief’s posers on land deal

Ramesh Chennithala

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala said here on Friday that the steps taken by the State government in connection with the Ponmudi land deal was not above aboard, and sought clarification from Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan on 10 points related to the deal.

In a statement, Mr. Chennithala wanted to know why issues related to the Forest Minister’s role in facilitating the sale of government land to a private party was not brought under the purview of the Vigilance investigation. He asked the Chief Minister why he rejected the Opposition demand for an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the controversial deal involving Ministers, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) officials and a private party.

The Chief Minister should clarify why the Government did not examine ISRO’s plea for 200 acres (80 hectares) of land to set up the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology and the circumstances that led to the appointment of the Custodian for Ecologically Fragile Land the very next day after the so-called owner of Merchiston Estate, Xavy Mano Mathew, signed a sale agreement with ISRO on March 7, 2007, disposing of Government vested land.

He asked if the Chief Minister would examine the fact that the joint meeting convened by the Forest and Labour Ministers on May 16, 2007, had listed labour problems of Merchiston estate, but did not discuss the issue. Mr. Chennithala sought to know why Mr. Mathew, who did not have any rights over the estate and who had been an accused in a forest case, was allowed to attend the meeting. The Chief Minister should clarify what steps the government took when ISRO officials wrote to the Revenue Minister and to him in connection with the Ponmudi land deal.

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