Court orders probe against Vakkom Purushothaman

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 25 (UNI) A vigilance court here today ordered a probe against former Kerala Finance Minister Vakkom Purushothaman in a case relating to deliberately undervaluing the land his family has purchased here.

The court, on an appeal by Madathil Marikar Haji, also directed the Vigilance Department to file a report on the inquiry within three months.

It was alleged that Mr Purusothaman's family had evaded stamp duty by deliberately undervaluing the land they purchased in Thiruvananthapuram.

Mr Haji had approached the court in 2006 accusing Mr Purushothaman of violating the Prevention of Corruption Act and his relatives of evading stamp duty.

Another judge of the same court had earlier exonerated Mr Purushothaman on the same complaint for want of evidence.

Following this, Mr Haji approached the Kerala High Court which in turn directed the vigilance court to look into the complaint once again.

UNI PN AJ NY GC1854