Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 17 Kerala Leader of Opposition in Kerala V.D. Satheesan slammed the State Excise Minister M.B. Rajesh for glorifying a controversial liquor firm owner who was in jail in the Delhi Excise liquor policy case.
Satheesan said that the permission given by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan led-Left government to a private liquor company to start a brewery in the Palakkad district is a corrupt deal.
“This company Oasis Commercial Pvt Ltd’s top official was behind bars in the controversial Delhi Excise policy case. It’s this company that Minister Rajesh was glorifying by saying this is a very good firm. The Vijayan government flouted all rules and gave permission without inviting tenders. We need to know how much did Vijayan government got for permitting this company to manufacture liquor,” said Satheesan.
“This company has been given the sanction to operate in the water-scarce Palakkad district. It was after a long-drawn protest that the multinational Coke plant was wound up. This very same company’s distillery plant in Punjab had caused numerous pollution problems and this issue had surfaced in the Parliament too. Yet Minister Rajesh says this is a great company,” added Satheesan.
Veteran Congress legislator and former LoP, Ramesh Chennithala asked Vijayan to come clean on what basis it was decided to give permission to Oasis Commercial Pvt Ltd to start an ethanol plant, multi-feed distillation unit, Indian-made foreign liquor bottling unit, brewery, malt spirit plant, and brandy/winery plant at Kanchikode in Palakkad.
“Rajesh says that Oasis is a company registered under the Companies Act. It’s silly for a Minister to say such justification, as who doesn’t know that all companies have to be registered. The Vijayan government has indulged in a corrupt deal as there were no tender adopted. Vijayan has to come clean on this deal,” said Chennithala.
He said that the Congress will be raising this issue in the Assembly also which opened its budget session on Friday.
On January 15, the Vijayan cabinet granted approval to Oasis to start the plant at Kanchikode.
--IANS
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