Kochi, Thursday, July 07, 2011: The Kerala government today informed the high court that there was absolutely no bar in conducting vigilance probe into allegations of corruption and irregularities against former chief minister V S Achuthanandan’’s son which was before the Lokayukta.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had forwarded a complaint listing various allegations against Achuthanandan’’s son, V A Arun Kumar, including his foreign trips as director of state- run Institute of Human Resource Development during the fag end of LDF rule when he (Chandy) was the Opposition leader.

Achuthanandan had forwarded the letter to the Lokayukta. After the new government took charge, a vigilance probe was ordered following which Arun Kumar approached court challenging it.

The Lokayukta act enables government to take suitable necessary action as per law. Even during the pendency of the complaint before the Lokayukta, government was well within law to order vigilance probe, the government said, justifying its June 16 order for the probe against Arun Kumar.

According to the petitioner, Kumar, the vigilance enquiry was vitiated by mala fide. Besides the Kerala government and director of Vigilance Anti-Corruption Bureau, the chief minister is also a respondent in the case. The government denied Kumar’’s allegations and said there was no legal or factual basis for allegation of mala fide.

(News Agency)