Kerala minister summoned for questioning as govt battles graft shadow

Opposition alleges Jaleel was involved in illegal activities in the garb of distributing holy books.

The customs department has summoned Kerala higher education minister K T Jaleel for questioning in connection with the import of holy books on Monday even as the assembly ethics committee sought explanation from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for seeking files of the Life Mission project.

Jaleel says he will be happy to depose before customs in the case. (ANI Photo)

The minister was earlier grilled by the ED and National Investigation Agency (NIA) twice for allegedly accepting gifts and holy books weighing more than 4000 kg in March from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) consulate in the state capital. The minister said he will be happy to reveal his side of the story to the customs. “I am least bothered because truth will prevail,” he said.

The state government is already under the shadow of corruption cases after the arrest of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s principal secretary M Sivasankar in connection with the gold smuggling case and the detention of CPI(M) state secretary’s son Bineesh Kodiyeri in money laundering case related to narcotics haul.

Jaleel’s problems began after phone call records of Swapna Suresh, the main accused in the gold smuggling case, revealed that the minister had regularly been in touch with her. Jaleel claimed he called Suresh as a consular employee in connection with Ramadan kits offered by the UAE consulate.

His clarification invited more trouble because he was not supposed to accept funds or freebies as gifts without the consent of the ministry of external affairs. Experts said it was a violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

During the investigation in the gold smuggling case, the customs also found that a heavy consignment weighing more than 4,000 kg, packed in 31 bags, arrived on March 4 and it was taken to Malappuram. The minister later said those were holy books and he took them to his constituency for distribution. However, the minister had not sought any clearance for this activity.

Opposition parties, Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have alleged that holy books were just a shield to cover illegal activities. The state had witnessed widespread protests last month seeking his resignation. But the CM stood with Jaleel saying he did not violate FCRA and accepted holy books after the UAE consulate made a request.

Meanwhile, the ethics committee of the assembly on Saturday served a notice to ED which is probing alleged irregularities in the government’s housing project named Life Mission. The notice said it was highly inappropriate for the agency to seek files of a project cleared by the assembly and called it a ploy to delay the project. The ED assistant director has been asked to reply to the notice within a week. Opposition parties have decried the notice and said it was intended to intimidate the central agency.

The Life Mission project, intended to build free houses for the poor, got into a controversy after the NIA seized ₹one crore cash and two kg gold from the bank locker of the gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh in July. She later told the NIA that ₹one crore was the commission she got for clinching a deal with an international aid agency ‘Red Crescent’ which funded the project in Vadakkencherry in Thrissur district.

Later a news channel controlled by the CPI(M) aired a report claiming ₹4 crore was paid as commission in the ₹20 crore project, which didn’t take clearance from the union government for receiving foreign contributions.

The anti-corruption unit of the CBI had registered a case under the FCRA but later the high court stayed the probe. The government was on the back foot again after ED sought details of the project. Last week, CM Pinarayi Vijayan had criticised central agencies saying they were in a race to discredit the state government.