Left MLA Anvar lashes out against Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan
Malappuram(Kerala) (PTI): Virtually ending his association with the ruling LDF, independent Left MLA P V Anvar on Thursday lashed out at Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, accusing him of misleading the public and demanding that he give up the charge of the Home department.
Anvar also challenged Vijayan to order a reinvestigation of the around 180 gold smuggling cases in the state under the supervision of a sitting judge, alleging the police was not following proper procedure when seizing the precious metal from the 'carriers' who bring it from abroad illegally.
Lashing out at the CM, Anvar even called Vijayan a "cheat".
The MLA from Nilambur assembly constituency said that ruling CPI(M) in the state has gone back on the assurances given to him with regard to the various allegations and complaints he made against ADGP M R Ajithkumar and the CM's political secretary P Sasi.
He said he had acceded to the Left party's direction not to make public statements based on the assurances given by the CPI(M).
"However, I now understand that the inquiry and probe into the various allegations and complaints by me is not going on properly," Anvar said at a press conference held here.
His latest statements come days after Vijayan sharply criticised Anvar for continuously holding press conferences making allegations against Sasi and Ajithkumar.
Vijayan had also strongly backed Sasi, saying there was no wrongdoing on his part irrespective of who says otherwise.
The CM had also described the Nilambur legislator as someone not with a Leftist background but rather as having come from the Congress party.
Apparently hurt by Vijayan's certain remarks, Anvar said the CM has created an impression in the minds of the Kerala society that the Nilambur MLA was behind the smuggling activities.
"He made statements that were damaging to me," he said.
Anvar further said he had hoped the Left party would correct the statements by the CM, "but no such correction came from their side".
The Left MLA further alleged that the only contribution of the eight year LDF rule in the state was the restraint by the CM on the people's representatives to work for the public or intervene in the issues of general importance.
"If things go on like this, he (Vijayan) will be the last CM of the Communist movement in the state. He is being led by some vested groups," Anvar contended.
Regarding the alleged improper probe of the gold smuggling cases, Anvar alleged it was all happening with the CM's knowledge.
Anvar said he is making this statement after talking to some carriers and showed videos of his interactions with them about how police "swiped" some of the gold seized from them when they were caught.
This was in response to Vijayan's recent remarks that reduction in the weight of seized gold when it reaches the court is purely technical.
"Some people smuggle gold hidden in their garments, while others mix it with different substances. When the gold is seized, the weight is calculated along with the items used to conceal it. However, once the gold is extracted, the weight changes," Vijayan had explained.
Anvar, while attacking the CM, did not spare his son-in-law and state Tourism Minister P A Mohammed Riyas.
He alleged that the party was being destroyed to improve the prospects of Riyas.
He also attacked the Congress-led UDF opposition by accusing it of having a nexus with the ruling CPI(M) in the state.
"That is why many cases affecting party leaders do not get solved. That is why the opposition has not taken up the issues I have raised," he said.
At the same time, he clarified that he never questioned the biological DNA of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, during the Lok Sabha poll campaign in Kerala, and had referred to his "political DNA".
Anvar said that Gandhi, based on briefings by some Congress leaders, had questioned why Vijayan was not arrested by the ED and "it had to be responded to".
"So, I questioned his political DNA. I had clarified it back then also," he said.
On reporters' queries whether he would resign from his MLA position or float a new party, Anvar said he will not give up anything he has got.
"I will sit in the middle of the assembly, neither on the left nor on the right," he added.
He also said that he will not be attending the CPI(M)'s parliamentary party meeting either.
Anvar said he now only trusts the communist party workers and the court.
"My next step will be to move the High Court. Prior to that, I will be holding a public meeting to tell the people about my plans," he said.
The Left MLA also said that the ADGP was probably the one "who wrote the script read out by the CM", referring to Vijayan's recent press conference on September 21.
Anvar also alleged that it was Sasi who was responsible for protecting the bad elements in the police force.
He said he had told the CM that his popularity among the public was going down due to the actions of his political secretary.
Anvar had on Wednesday resumed his attack on the ruling LDF government, terming as a "joke" a probe reportedly ordered by it into ADGP Ajithkumar's meeting with an RSS leader last year.
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Cash discovery row: SC grills Justice Yashwant Varma over his petition
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday questioned Justice Yashwant Varma over his plea to invalidate an in-house inquiry panel report indicting him over the discovery of huge cache of burnt cash from his official residence during his tenure as a Delhi High Court judge.
"Why did you appear before the inquiry committee? Did you come to the court that the video be removed? Why did you wait for the inquiry to be completed and the report be released? Did you take a chance of a favourable order there first," a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and A G Masih asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who was representing Justice Varma.
The top court further quizzed Justice Varma over the parties he had made in his plea and said he should have filed the in-house inquiry report with his plea.
Sibal submitted there was a process under Article 124 (the Establishment and constitution of the Supreme Court), and a judge couldn't be a subject matter of public debate.
"The release of video on SC website, public furore, media accusations against judges are prohibited as per constitutional scheme," Sibal added.
The top court asked Sibal to come with one page bullet points and correct the memo of parties.
The matter was posted for July 30.
Justice Varma has sought quashing of the May 8 recommendation by then chief justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, urging Parliament to initiate impeachment proceedings against him.
His plea said the inquiry "reversed the burden of proof", requiring him to investigate and disprove the charges levelled against him.
Alleging that the panel's findings were based on a preconceived narrative, Justice Varma said the inquiry timelines were driven solely by the urge to conclude proceedings swiftly, even at the expense of "procedural fairness".
The petition contended that the inquiry panel drew adverse findings without affording him a full and fair hearing.
A report of the inquiry panel probing the incident had said Justice Varma and his family members had covert or active control over the store room where a huge cache of half-burnt cash was found following a fire incident, proving his misconduct which is serious enough to seek his removal.
The three-judge panel headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu of the Punjab and Haryana High Court conducted the inquiry for 10 days, examined 55 witnesses and visited the scene of the accidental fire that started at around 11.35 pm on March 14 at the official residence of Justice Varma, then a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court and now in the Allahabad High Court.
Acting on the report, then CJI Khanna wrote to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi recommending the judge's impeachment.
