Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala has alleged that Kerala Assembly Speaker P Sivaramakrishnan was acting beyond his authority and the state government was misusing its official machinery and institutions to protect the vested interests of his political masters.  Addressing the media people, Chennithala said there was no authority for the Speaker and the State Legislative Secretariat to issue a breach of privilege notice to the Enforcement Directorate. The notice issued by the Legislative Secretariat sought an explanation from the ED officials on why the agency wanted documents related to the Life Mission Housing project.

The Legislative Secretariat was acting on a complaint by CPI(M) legislator James Mathew who challenged the authority of the Central Enforcement Agency in seeking details of the Life Mission Housing Project. Mr. Chennithala said the state government has no authority to stall investigations by Central Agencies. The raid by the ED officials on Binesh Kodiyeri’s residence on Wednesday was in keeping with procedures laid down for similar operations followed by Enforcement Agencies. The raid was conducted in accordance with rules. The ED had a proper warrant from the Court for the search and it was nothing but stupidity that the government used its machinery to prevent the raid.

These actions were aimed at attacking the ongoing investigations by the various central agencies, he remarked. He pointed out that the investigation by the ED into the alleged financial misappropriation in the Life Mission housing project would in no way tantamount to breach of legislative privileges, adding that such actions by the state government aimed at restricting the businesses of central agencies amounts to challenging the federal system of governance.

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