Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 19: The opposition left democratic front today walked out of the Kerala Assembly protesting rejection of its notice for adjournment motion on alleged irregularities and corruption in giving no objection certificates (NOCs) for B.Ed colleges. Before trooping his colleagues out of the house, opposition leader V S Achuthanandan charged Chief Minister A K Antony and Education Minister Nalakath Soopy with hiding the facts relating to the case and demanded a judicial probe after dropping Soopy from the cabinet.
Soopy, on the other hand, refuted the charge that the matter involved corruption or irregularities. A particular complaint from the metropolitan of Jacobite Syrian church in Wayanad that Muslim League leaders from the district had allegedly sought bribe from the church was being referred to the lok ayukta, he said.
Antony said he had not personally interfered in the matter to facilitate NOC for any particular institution. There were complaints that certain 'reputed institutions' were left out of the list and he had only asked that such complaints should be looked into. "In doing so I did not specify any particular institution," he said.
Seeking leave for the motion, deputy leader of CPI-M, Kotiyeri Balakrishnan, said the whole issue was 'shrouded in mystery' and the government's move to refer the metropolitan's complaint to lok ayukta amounted to admission that 'all is not well' in education department under Soopy.
Bureau Report