Taxmen seek one more month for probing wealth sources of CPM leaders

The Central Taxes Department told the Kerala High Court on Tuesday that it would soon conclude the investigations into the wealth sources of CPI(M) leaders Pinarayi Vijayan, MA Baby and TM Thomas Isaac. While the Court was taking up a petition seeking an examination of the sources of wealth of these leaders, the Income Tax Additional Director submitted before it that the department would need one more month to complete the investigations.

The department said that since the allegations made by the petitioner were of general nature, the official would need more time for examinations. He added that the investigations were under progress.

TP Nandakumar, chief editor of Crime Weekly, had in a petition alleged that the three leaders had amassed wealth through dubious means. The allegation against Education and Cultural Affairs Minster Baby was that he had made wealth through the operations of Swaralaya, a cultural forum.

Finance Minister Thomas Isaac was being accused of collecting money through irregular deals involving the resource map of the State with foreign elements. This allegation against Isaac, in connection with the People’s Plan programme of the previous LDF Government, headed by (late) EK Nayanar, was hot news in the media some time ago.

The petitioner has cited the construction of a huge house in Pinarayi by CPI (M) State secretary Vijayan and the MBA education of his son Vivek Kiran at Birmingham University, UK as examples of the huge resources he had amassed through dubious means.

The Taxes Department said that they were yet to track the details of this as they had been able to find only that the fees for the MBA course at Birmingham was around Rs 15 lakh, as per the information available on the Internet.

The petitioner has also demanded investigations into the functioning of the business establishment, Kamala International. He alleges that the institution, in the name of Pinarayi’s wife Kamala, is owned by her.

The education of Pinarayi’s son at Birmingham has been a subject of hot discussion in the media as well as political circles ever since his admission there for the MBA course in September 2005, considering the huge expense it demands.

A magazine supporting Chief Minister and CPI (M) Politburo member VS Achuthanandan in the group war in the party against Pinarayi Vijayan had in one of its recent issues raised serious questions regarding Vivek’s studies at Birmingham.

The magazine had said that neither Pinarayi nor his wife Kamala, a school teacher could have found the funds necessary for his education in UK, which would come to at least Rs 50 lakh, as the tuition fee alone for the two-year-course was Rs 22.50 lakh.

It had indicated that Vivek Kiran had some unknown sponsor who was looking after his UK studies expense.

The CPI (M) State secretary, when asked by the mediapersons about this, had said that he would answer all questions regarding this after the allegations were complete.