Sabarimala gold case: M.B. Rajesh dares Satheesan to refute Kerala HC observation of no govt interference in probe

Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretariat member and Excise Minister M.B. Rajesh has challenged Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan to refute the Kerala High Court’s finding that the government had not prejudiced the special investigation team’s (SIT) probe into the Sabarimala gold theft case. 

Speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, Mr. Rajesh underscored that the SIT was conducting the investigation “professionally and thoroughly, leaving no stone unturned.

The High Court had on Tuesday examined the SIT’s report and placed specific observations on record.

Mr. Rajesh said the High Court had observed that the government had not brought any pressure on the SIT. He said the court had also found that “misleading reports and speculative narratives” in both social and conventional media had placed unwarranted pressure on the SIT. 

He said the High Court observation was “a rejection of Mr. Satheesan’s misleading narrative” that the government had inserted two politically partisan officers into the SIT to protect CPI(M) interests.

He said the court found the officers “trustworthy and competent.” It also permitted the Additional Director General of Police, Law and Order, and Crime Branch, to expand the SIT, if required.

Mr. Rajesh accused the media of “eclipsing” the High Court observations, which he said rejected the insinuations by the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that the government had compromised the SIT probe.

Meanwhile, the Vigilance Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, Kollam, rejected the bail application of A. Padmakumar, CPI(M) leader and former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president. 

Govt complicit: Satheesan

Meanwhile, Mr. Satheesan alleged that the CPI(M)’s reluctance to remove Mr. Padmakumar from the party rolls revealed the government’s “complicity in the crime.”