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The transfer meant to cowl high-level authorities corruption, says Leader of the Opposition, Ramesh Chennithala
The Committee of Privileges and Ethics, Kerala Legislative Assembly, has requested the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to clarify why the House shouldn’t deem its choice to summon the data of the Life Mission challenge in entirety as a breach of legislative prerogative.
Also learn: Centre seeks information on Red Crescent deal
In a communique to the Assistant Director, ED, P Radhakrishnan, the committee cited the criticism filed by Communist Party of India (Marxist) Legislator James Mathew.
Mr. Mathew had alleged that the ED’s motion had impeded the progress of the Life Mission challenge to the drawback of lakhs of beneficiaries. The scheme is geared toward offering free housing to the poor.
Mr. Mathew advised the committee that the ED ought to have restricted its enquiry to the alleged money-laundering angle of the UAE Red Crescent-Life Mission deal to assemble 140 dwellings for the poor in Thrissur at an estimated price of Rs 20 crore.
Instead, the ED had tried to carry the whole Life Mission challenge below the ambit of its investigation. The company had overstepped its authorized bounds, and within the course of infringed on legislative privilege.
The committee has issued notice to the ED below part 159 of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business. The company has every week to reply.
The notice to the ED appeared to have laid the bottom for one more protracted bout of authorized and political wrangling between the Centre and State over the difficulty of “encroachment” of federal legislation enforcement into the purview of the provincial authorities.
The legislative committee’s transfer has additionally triggered a pointy response from the Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala.
He stated the notice to the ED was a fig leaf meant to cowl high-level authorities corruption.
Speaker P. Sreemakrishnan had used the imprimatur of the Assembly to defend the egocentric pursuits of the federal government.
In a letter to the Speaker, Mr. Chennithala stated the committee had erred in in search of a proof from ED officers mandated by legislation to examine the money-laundering angle of the controversial deal.
Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) State president Ok. Surendran had tried to hobble the probe into governmental corruption by utilizing the Assembly as a canopy to put ED officers on the defence.
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