Chief Minister defends director general of prosecution in Assembly

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan rejected Opposition demand that Director General of Prosecution (DGP) Manjeri Sreedharan Nair should not hold the office as a court in Kozhikode had taken cognizance of a cheating case against him, in the Assembly on Thursday.

The Chief Minister refuted the contention of Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala that the court had directed registration of a case against the DGP. The court had only started hearing the petitioner.

Mr. Vijayan maintained that the case had been filed against the DGP as he was the person who had signed the documents as director of Institute of Medical Sciences, Nilambur, along with the Chairman of the Director Board, to avail a loan from Kerala Financial Corporation. He had not resorted to cheating.

He said that Mr. Nair was appointed as DGP as he was an eminent criminal lawyer.

Referring to criticisms about his legal advisor M. K. Damodaran appearing for lottery operator Santiago Martin, the Chief Minister said that Mr. Damodaran was not receiving any remuneration from the government. He was free to appear before courts in any case of his choice.

Making a submission earlier, the Opposition Leader said that the loan of Rs. 5 crore was availed without the approval of the Director Board. It was one of the directors, K. R. Vasudevan, who had approached the court after the police failed to register a case.

Mr. Chennithala said that the situation was similar to the RBI Governor becoming accused in a fake note case. Mr. Sreedharan Nair was to oversee prosecution of cases. Now, he himself had become an accused in a criminal case. So, he should be kept out of the office.