Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Thursday said the VACB has found no evidence against Chief Minister V D Satheesan in connection with allegations linked to the Punarjani flood rehabilitation project and decided to close all proceedings in the case.
Addressing reporters here, Chennithala said the vigilance probe found no material to link Satheesan with the alleged violations of the Foreign Contribution Act or any other irregularity in the project, which was launched for the rehabilitation of victims of the 2018 floods in his Paravur constituency.
"The investigation has found that Satheesan was not directly involved in any financial transaction, nor did the probe find any evidence against him," he said.
Dismissing allegations that the government had given Satheesan a clean chit after the change of regime, Chennithala said the decision was based entirely on the findings of the vigilance investigation and on the basis of the report submitted by the Director of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau .
The minister said the investigation established that Satheesan, who was the Leader of the Opposition when the case was registered, had no connection with any financial transaction related to the project and that all the transactions were carried out through the accounts of the Manappattu Foundation.
"The investigation found that Satheesan had not committed any offence under the relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. No evidence of any criminal offence or wrongdoing was detected," he said.
{{/usCountry}}"The investigation found that Satheesan had not committed any offence under the relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. No evidence of any criminal offence or wrongdoing was detected," he said.
{{/usCountry}}Accordingly, the VACB Director recommended that no further proceedings be required, and the government has accepted that recommendation," the home minister explained.
"There is clear evidence that he was not involved in even a single financial transaction. I have personally examined the entire case file," Chennithala added.
He also alleged that the previous LDF government had recommended a CBI probe into the matter purely for political reasons.
In January this year, under the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government, the VACB had recommended a CBI probe against Satheesan, alleging irregularities in raising foreign funds for the Punarjani rehabilitation project.
The vigilance report had alleged FCRA violations, and claimed that Satheesan travelled abroad after obtaining permission from the Centre for a private visit and collected funds overseas, which were later transferred to accounts in Kerala.
The report had recommended a CBI investigation under Section 3 of the FCRA, which prohibits any person residing in India or any Indian citizen residing abroad from accepting foreign contributions on behalf of a political party, sources had then said.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.