Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Finance Minister K.M. Mani, who has been targeted by the opposition in recent months over bribery allegations, has filed a defamation suit against his accuser.
Mani is seeking Rs100 million (Dh5.85 million) in damages from Biju Ramesh, the working president of the state’s bar hotel owners’ association, for alleging that he had been paid a bribe by the association.
The development comes a day after opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan confronted Mani in the state assembly, challenging him to file a suit against Ramesh if his allegation was false. The suit was filed in a sub-court in the state capital.
Mani had earlier sent three notices to Ramesh.
Ramesh first alleged that Mani asked for a bribe of Rs50 million for facilitating the continuation of liquor bars in the state after the state government had proposed a policy to ensure a total alcohol prohibition, to be implemented over a 10-year period.
Ramesh said Rs10 million had been paid to Mani at his residence in Pala for a favourable stance towards liquor bars.
The finance minister strongly denies the allegations, calling them a “blatant lie”, but had previously stopped short of taking legal action against Ramesh.
Meanwhile, Ramesh made fresh allegations on Tuesday, stating that Mani’s son, MP Jose K. Mani, along with the minister’s son-in-law, had approached him with the offer of a huge sum of money for withdrawing the bribery allegations against the finance minister.
Jose K. Mani denied that he had approached Ramesh with such a request.
Mani is scheduled to present the state government’s budget on March 13, and the opposition insists that a bribe-accused minister has “no moral right” to present the budget. The opposition has vowed to hold strong protests against Mani on the budget day.
