CPI(M) not averse to ED questioning Kerala CM’s additional secretary Raveendran
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He has been summoned in reference to suspected kickbacks in varied infrastructure contracts.
The CPI(M) is reportedly not averse to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioning C.M. Raveendran, additional non-public secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
By some accounts, the CPI(M) State secretariat which met right here on Friday felt Mr. Raveendran ought to seem earlier than the ED directly and any additional procrastination was not optimum, politically and legally. There have been additionally unconfirmed stories that the ED had recognized some properties in Kannur allegedly linked to Mr. Raveendran.
The ED had summoned the political appointee to query him in reference to suspected “kickbacks in the various infrastructure contracts” being carried out by the State authorities.
Mr. Raveendran was scheduled to seem earlier than the ED’s workplace in Kochi on Friday. However, he was beneath remedy for post-COVID-19 issues and the docs had reportedly prescribed relaxation and physiotherapy classes.
Earlier, the ED had arrested Mr. Vijayan’s former Principal Secretary M. Sivasankar as a part of its probe into the cash laundering facet of the UAE gold smuggling case. Its summons to Mr. Raveendran have triggered intense hypothesis that the company’s investigation was getting shut to the Chief Minister’s Office.
The authorities and the CPI(M) have portrayed the ED’s transfer as a constitutional overreach. Mr Vijayan had said the company had no enterprise in search of authorities data associated to mega initiatives. The CPI(M) had stated the ED was not a examine and balances physique just like the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. It had additionally accused the BJP authorities on the Centre of utilizing the ED to goal Mr. Vijayan.
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