One more minister quits over ‘bar’ scam

One more minister in Kerala resigned yesterday after adverse remarks from the judiciary over bribery charges.Chief Minister Oommen Chandy accepted the resignation of excise minister K Babu during the test run of Kochi Metro.Earlier in the day, a designated court in Thrissur derided the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) for the slow pace of investigation into allegations made by a liquor baron and ordered that a case be registered against Babu.Babu is the second minister after K M Mani, the then finance minister, to resign after allegations surfaced that they took bribes to reopen 730 liquor bars which were closed as part of the Congress Party-led government’s policy of phased prohibition in the state.Babu said controversial hotelier Biju Ramesh, whose nine bars in the state capital lost licences due to the partial ban, conspired with deputy opposition leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan at legislator V Sivankutty’s residence on December 14, 2014, to destabilise the government.“He raised the allegations against me after this meeting, where the opposition leaders assured the liquor baron to get the bars reopened if they helped them come to power,” Babu told reporters after submitting his resignation.“That’s why their (opposition) liquor policy remains a mystery while they had detailed their plans for all other sectors. I resigned not because I’m guilty but on moral grounds.”Balakrishnan and Sivankutty admitted meeting Ramesh and other hoteliers but maintained they made no promise to them. However, the Ramesh denied any such meeting as he was mourning his father’s death at that time.“I have not met him (Balakrishnan) anywhere at that time. I have not gone to him (seeking help),” Ramesh told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.Ramesh had alleged that the hoteliers gave Rs100mn to Babu during the 2014 parliamentary elections. Yesterday, he raised similar allegations against a third minister, V S Sivakumar, also from the Congress.“We have not tried to come to power through the backdoor. Ramesh only apprised me of the developments after they raised the allegations,” said Balakrishnan, who is also the secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which leads the opposition.The Thrissur Vigilance Court judge S S Vasan also ordered that the first investigation report in the case be filed by February 22. He criticised the VACB for the slow progress in filing Quick Verification Report (QVR) ordered earlier.The VACB told the court that the QVR was with the Lokayukta, the state ombudsman, which is also considering a similar complaint in the case.“Since the Lokayukta is functioning do you think that the Vigilance court has been closed? If the officials have some honesty, sincerity and commitment the report should have been filed within ten days,” the court said.The court also ordered that a case be registered against Ramesh for offering bribes.Members of the Kerala Bar Hotel Owners Association had accused the ministers of promising a favourable liquor policy in exchange for money before Chandy tightened his prohibition policy.