Achuthanandan to be made an accused in land scam

Senior CPM leader VS Achuthanandan has landed in trouble for allegedly flouting rules to assign 2.33 acres of government land to his relatives in northern Kerala’s Kasarkkode district during his tenure as chief minister. HT reports.

Senior CPM leader VS Achuthanandan has landed in trouble for allegedly flouting rules to assign 2.33 acres of government land to his relatives in northern Kerala’s Kasarkkode district during his tenure as chief minister.

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The state vigilance department on Wednesday said the former chief minister and nine others would be named accused in the case. The department said Achuthanandan had shown undue interest in allotting the land to his nephew TK Soman, an ex-serviceman, overruling the objections of senior revenue and civil officials.

Soman had applied for allotment of government land in 1977 claiming he had no landed property. Till the 1970s, landless soldiers were allotted land after paying a nominal price under land assignment rules. The provision was later discontinued.

Subsequently, in April 1977 land was allotted to Soman, a native of Alapuzha, in Kasarkkode. However, Soman failed to deposit the required amount and the allotment was cancelled.

The file was retrieved after 30 years and re-submitted in June 2007 when Achuthanandan was in power. The land was then allotted to Soman in June 2010 with the condition that it should not be sold in 25 years. However, this condition was also waived later.

When the Congress-led UDF government came to power it cancelled the allotment and ordered a vigilance probe.