Kerala govt for contempt of court charges against S Rajendran, others

Kochi:  In a further blow to the embattled CPM lawmaker S Rajendran and four others, the state government on Wednesday approached Kerala High Court seeking to initiate contempt of court proceedings against them for raising a building in Munnar violating the court order on January 21, 2010.

Others to face action include Madhusoodanan Unnithan, secretary, Munnar grama panchayat; Kuruppaswamy, president of the panchayat; Vijayakumar, a member of the panchayat; and Chikku, contractor.  

The High Court had directed that consent of the Revenue Department should be obtained before carrying out any construction in Munnar, the state government pointed out.

However, the president of Bison Valley grama panchayat had approached the court for reviewing the order, the court rejected the application in 2018.

The government pointed out that the Kanan Devan Hills company had transferred two acres of land to the Munnar grama panchayat free of cost solely for vehicle parking facilities, not for any construction activity.

Also, the land is situated within 50 yards from the margin and any construction in the area will violate the Supreme Court directive.  

Besides, the area handed over to the panchayat was fully inundated for more than five days during the floods. 

The government has decided not to allow construction activities in areas affected by floods without a thorough scientific study by the expert team. 

Despite this, the panchayat has begun construction without obtaining consent from the Revenue Department.

Arriving at the construction spot, Devikulam MLA Rajendran declared NOC from the Revenue Department was not necessary and that Renu Raj’was ignorant.

The government stated that the MLA and others have disobeyed HC orders amounting to wilful contempt of court.