Kerala seeks AG's opinion on HMT land deal

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 15: Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan today said the Advocate General will look into the legal aspect of the Chief Secretary's report on the sale of 70 acres of land by HMT to a private company for constructing a cyber city.

''The Government has got the Chief Secretary's report. A decision will be taken after the Advocate General's opinion on the legal aspects of the report,'' he told reporters after a Cabinet meeting.

Asked about the contents of the report, he said all the details would be looked into only after the AG's opinion. The AG's opinion on the issue was expected soon, he added.

The allegation against HMT was that it had sold the land to Blue Star Realtors in violation of the clauses in the agreement reached between the PSU and the State Government.

Another decision taken at the Cabinet was to increase the number of vacancies of sports persons from 20 to 50 in State service. It was also decided to appoint Mr Hariharan Nair as the new ombudsman of local bodies.

UNI