Thiruvananthapuram: The Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday told media that, LIFE Mission CEO was permitted to petition the court against CBI, on back of expert legal opinion that there would arise legal tangles detrimental to the ongoing housing projects for the poor. As the subject happens to be under the court purview, I do not wish to go into the merits of the case or divulge further, said CM.
All I wish to say at this point is, let the court decide. The Kochi unit of CBI on 24 September, submitted a report stating there was violation of Foreign Contribution(Regulation) Act of 2010 in case of LIFE Mission. Incidentally, the contract for construction of 140 flats in Wadakanchery and a Health Centre on-site, has been entered into between UAE Counsel General and Unitech Sane Ventures Ltd with works being carried out with help from UAE Red Crescent.
LIFE Mission at no point accepted any money in donations from abroad and legal experts are of the view that money exchanges based on contractual agreements do fall under the purview of Foreign Contribution(Regulation) Act of (FCRA)2010. This is why the government filed a criminal revision petition with the High Court citing that, the CBI FIR incriminating unidentified employees at LIFE Mission and Unitech Sane Ventures accusing violations under sec 35 and sec 3 of FCRA, was not legally sustainable.
The High Court has admitted the plea and send notices to the opponent parties. The matter will be taken up in the next hearing. There is nothing wrong in approaching the court for respite on matters not sustainable under law. Hence the step only amounts to seeking protection granted by our constitution. Not utilising such lawful recourse is equivalent to telling, one must not seek constitutional protections.
The housing projects of LIFE Mission is meant for the landless and homeless people and it is highly irrational to mire the endeavour in baseless legal tangles. Such tactics are unacceptable. The government approached the court knowing fully well that, its housing project as per sec 2H of FCRA, is not in violation of any statute.
A big question now arising of the situation is, what can the state government do when CBI seeks to intervene in the country’s federal settings? Clearly, we do not wish to pursue the example set by Congress government in Rajasthan barring CBI altogether from the state. The government here believes firmly in fending off corruption, which is why vigilance probe was invoked in the case.
However, when it comes to questioning of allegations that are prima facie baseless, the law and constitution empowers everybody to do so. That’s all what has happened here. It is ridiculous that, the ones consciously trying to prop up legal tangles are the very persons objecting tp government’s legal efforts to resolve matters.
‘We shall raise all allegations that suit our fancy and the government should gulp it down silently’ - this kind of attitude is unacceptable. One tagline in the storm has it “Speedy Setback (Thirakkitta Thirichadi)”. And, what prompted such bizarre analysis, remains unclear. However, since the matter currently lies in before the High Court, I do not wish to be telling more, said the chief minister.
