Kerala bribery case: tables turned on Cong MP

New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister and Kerala Congress veteran Vayalar Ravi, responded to the charge that he was one of the recipients of alleged kickbacks in a case involving liquor licences in 1994. He said, "It is clear that the people of Kerala know Vayalar Ravi well and know what he will do and will not do."

Congress Member of Parliament K Sudhakaran had first made the allegation that a Supreme Court judge was paid off to overturn a High Court verdict.

The judge Justice SR Pandian denied the charge. But now a bar owner in Sudhakaran's constituency claims that it was the MP making the allegations who actually brokered the deal.

A bar owner claims that K Sudhakaran, who blamed the SC judge, himself brokered the deal.

"Sudhakaran was in fact a mediator. The judge Pandian was given Rs 15 lakh and the deal happened in Delhi," said bar owner Jose Illikal.

Sudhakaran, however, says that the bar owner is a fraud. "Jose is a fraud. My statement was against a particular judicial officer and not the judiciary. It is unfortunate that P Vijayan named Vayalar," Sudhakaran said.

With assembly elections just a couple of months away, the bribery allegations against the then Congress Chief Vayalar Ravi and the then Chief Minister K Karunakaran, couldn't have come at a better time for the ruling left.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)