TO Sooraj points finger at ex-min on Palarivattom flyover scam
The request was vetted by a slew of officials, including the deputy secretary and additional secretary, before it reached him.
Kochi: Former PWD secretary T.O. Sooraj has pointed a finger at former PWD minister Ibrahim Kunju in the alleged corruption in the Palarivattom flyover construction. Sooraj said that Ibrahim Kunju had taken the decision to make advance payments to the private company entrusted with the construction of the flyover.
Sooraj made the statement in the bail petition filed by him in the High Court on Tuesday. He is the fourth accused in the case registered by the Vigilance and Anti-Corr-uption Bureau (VACB) in connection with alleged corruption in the flyover construction.
Apart from Sooraj, M.T. Thankachan, former assistant general manager of Kerala Roads and Bridges Development Corporation, has also filed a bail petition in the HC. The court has sought the response of the VACB in the matter. The main charges levelled by the VACB against Sooraj is that he had provided `8.25 cr to the construction co-mpany as advance paym-ent though no such clause existed in the contract.
In his bail petition, Sooraj stated that the RBDCK, the implementing agency, had received a request from the construction company for the advance payment.
The request was vetted by a slew of officials, including the deputy secretary and additional secretary, before it reached him. As the PWD secretary, he only signed the said application and submitted the same to the minister. The minister then issued the order for making the advance payment of Rs 8.25 crore to the company.
According to Sooraj, he later instructed to extract an interest at two percent higher than the savings bank interest rate from the company for the advance payment. Sooraj also pointed out that a Rs 25-crore advance payment was made to the company constructing the Edappally flyover without charging any interest. Sooraj and three others were arrested by the VACB on August 30 in connection with the case.
Sooraj and Thankachan in their bail petitions stated that they were in jail for the past 18 days and that they should be granted bail since the interrogation of both of them had been completed.