Chennithala calls Vijayan's Lokayukta meeting accusation misleading

In a Facebook post, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala dismissed Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan's criticism of a recent high-level Lokayukta meeting as misleading and unfounded. Chennithala clarified that the meeting, held on September 23, was called after the Lokayukta formally asked the government to intervene in administrative matters affecting its functioning, and he did not personally convene it. He referenced prior Lokayukta meetings in August 2006 under Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and July 2014 under Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to argue such gatherings are routine.

The September session included Justice Anil Kumar, Justice Ashok Menon, Justice Shercy, Additional Chief Secretary Minhaj Alam, Director General of Prosecution T Asif Ali, Law Secretary P N Vinod, Finance Additional Secretary M Geetha, Vigilance Additional Secretary Jose Kalathinkal and Registrar E Baiju, among others. The agenda covered nine items such as forwarding complaints, expediting contempt rules, and improving facilities for the Lokayukta’s Special Attorney’s Office. Chennithala also noted that an amendment curtailing the Lokayukta’s powers was introduced when complaints against former minister K T Jaleel were pending, and he argued Vijayan’s portrayal of the meeting as a subversive attempt was inaccurate.