CPM denies allegations against Kerala chief minister's daughter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after a Malayalam daily quoted New Delhi bench of Income Tax Interim Settlement Board (ITISB) report that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter T Veena allegedly received Rs 1.72 crore from a company Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL), the CPM state leadership has refuted the allegations terming these as baseless.

The ITISB bench had stated that Rs 1.72 crore was allegedly paid by CMRL to Veena's company Exalogic Solutions for consultancy services that were never provided. The IT department had termed it as illegal transaction in the guise of monthly instalments over a period of three years 2017-20.

The ITISB bench had ruled that the money was given considering the relationship with a "prominent person". Veena and her firm Exalogic Solutions had entered into an agreement with the CMRL to provide IT, marketing consultancy and software services to the latter.

However, as per the investigations carried out by the IT department, no services were reportedly provided.

CPM denies allegations against CM’s daughter

The CPM state secretariat in a statement said the allegations of payments to the chief minister's daughter as monthly instalments were baseless. "It was a legal service agreement between two legitimate companies and the money was paid on an annual basis as per the norms of the agreement. This was described as monthly quota to make the allegations look credible.

“It’s a transparent deal between two companies. All transactions between them were made through the bank. such legitimate transactions between two companies are portrayed as monthly quota."

The CPM said the CMRL company had approached the IT Settlement Board regarding an IT dispute. Veena Vijayan's company is not a party to the issue nor has its version been heard. A conspiracy was hatched to link her with needless controversies in view of the announcement of Puthupally by poll, it said.

The CPM  pointed out that wards of politicians like anyone else have every right to indulge in any legitimate work. That’s how Veena started a consultancy company. The activities of the company are transparent. It shows that the chief minister has no link with the issue, it said.

The CPM leadership alleged that an IT related matter involving in a company is being used to make political gains. It alleged that the Centre and its various agencies have been hunting down political opponents by targeting their families.

The fact that the remarks were made without lending an ear to Veena's side of the story clearly points to the conspiracy at work. Moreover, it is also ironic that such remarks were made in an order that had completely acquitted the company from any further legal proceedings, the party said.

Congress led UDF runs away from debate

The opposition Congress led UDF which had raised the pitch for a detailed probe into the allegations against chief minister’s daughter on Wednesday, surprisingly went silent on Thursday.

The silence was forced by reports that suggested that K S Suresh Kumar , chief financial officer of Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) reportedly gave a statement to the IT department that money was handed over to political leaders belonging to both ruling and opposition fronts in Kerala to overcome the threat of disrupting businesses that cause environmental harm.

The documents recovered by the IT department from Suresh Kumar's house had abbreviations like - PV, RC, OC, KK, IK . These abbreviations indicated names like Pinarayi Vijayan, Ramesh Chennithala, Oommen Chandy, P K Kunhalikutty and Ibrahim Kunju.

The opposition backed out from raising the monthly instalment involving Chief Minister's daughter Veena Vijayan in the assembly. Opposition leader VD Satheesan excused himself for not having an urgent motion notice and blamed the media.

He justified that there was nothing wrong in the UDF leaders taking money from Sasidharan Kartha and that the action was taken as per the directions of the party. “

“Veena Service Tax”

Union minister of information and technology Rajeev Chandrashekhar took a dig at Kerala chief minister’s daughter; “On the occasion when we are observing the anniversary of the Quit India Movement , the daughter of Kerala's communist chief minister is collecting money from different firms as if she had imposed a new kind of tax named "Veena Service Tax."

The union minister questioned the basis on which Veena has allegedly received the amounts and described the purported transactions "Veena service tax".