Compensation to Plantation; opposition leader raises concern

Kerala Opposition Leader V S Achuthanadan calls for canceling the move to provide compensation illegally to a plantation owner for the land to be acquired for setting up a centre of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) in Wayanad. 
Pursuing the case in earnest , he also sent a letter to Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash urging him to interfere in the matter at the earliest. He said that the move to give compensation for the government land was illegal and would lead to corruption.

In the letter quoting the news from Express, he said ''it is learned that the government proposes to acquire 75 acres of land from Glen leven estate and to give a compensation of Rs 25 crore. This land has been declared as excess land by the Taluk land Board and is entrusted to the government. However, the government is moving ahead for giving compensation to Glen Leven company citing technical reason that the land has not been taken from them.'' As the land has been declared 'excess land', there was no impediment in acquiring the land and giving it to the Institute, he added.

Achuthanandan also mentions in the letter that the opinion given by the Special government pleader (revenue) against giving compensation was not taken into account by certain revenue officials concerned. They then approached the Advocate general who had given a legal opinion that compensation could be given, he said and alleged that certain revenue officials and the AG were hand in glove.

Source: the New Indian Express

http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/174154/The-New-Indian-Express-Thiruvananthapuram/19-10-2013#page/5/1

Vijayan: first communist leader to be charge sheeted in graft case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed charge sheet against CPI (M) politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan in the multi-crore SNC Lavalin case. This is the first time a top Communist leader in the country is being prosecuted for graft charges.
The CBI filed the charge sheet at the Ernakulam court, arraigning Vijayan as the seventh accused in the case related to alleged irregularities involving Rs 374.5
crore in the award of contract for renovation and modernisation of Pallivasal, Sengulam and Panniyar hydro-electric projects to Canada-based SNC Lavalin in 1998 when he was the power minister.
The CBI filed the charge sheet after the state Governor gave his nod for prosecuting Vijayan. The CBI had sought the governor’s permission, as Vijayan had been a minister.
The governor had given the permission overruling the state government’s recommendation.
The prosecution issue had widened the rift within the CPI(M) state unit with the Chief Minister expressing his backing to the governor in the issue. Meanwhile his cabinet colleagues as well his party men have all come out against the governor for giving prosecution orders.