The Kerala police has filed a case against Viswananthan Perumal, a secretary of the Congress, for reportedly making offensive comments against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Perumal allegedly made objectionable remarks linking the prime accused in the 2020 gold smuggling case with Vijayan while addressing a Congress protest march in Kannur, where he serves as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Kerala.
The case was registered by the Kannur Town police under section 153 of the IPC (maliciously giving provocation with an intent to cause riot) based on a complaint filed by a local functionary of the ruling CPI (M). Perumal’s alleged comments included references to the prime accused’s statement against the Chief Minister, as well as accusations of sexual harassment and gold smuggling.
During the protest march, Perumal also criticized the cases registered against Congress state president K Sudhakaran and Opposition Leader V D Satheesan, who were facing legal issues of their own. Perumal referred to the SNC Lavalin case of 1997, in which a CBI court had allowed the discharge petition of Vijayan, alleging corruption and questioning why Vijayan was not arrested or jailed.
Additionally, Perumal accused Vijayan of corruption in establishing AI-enabled cameras for detecting traffic violations in Kerala, claiming that the money used was stolen from the people. Shaju Philip covers Kerala for The Indian Express.
