Suryanelli gang-rape case: Kurien meets Sonia, may quit

New Delhi, Feb 14: Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien, facing a political storm over Suryanelli rape case that has returned to haunt him, Thursday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and explained his position.

There was speculation that Kurien has been asked to put in his papers but sources close to him claimed that there was no such move at the moment.

A section in the party especially from Kerala Congress, however, feel that with new revelations coming in, his continuance as Deputy Chairman of the Upper House is increasingly becoming untenable.

Kurien refused to divulge what was discussed in his about 20-minute-long meeting with Gandhi.

"I will not comment. I will not divulge what was discussed in my meeting with the Congress President. This is not for media," Kurien told PTI when asked whether there is a possibility of his resigning from the post of Deputy Chairman of the Upper House.

Kurien had yesterday met the Chairman of Rajya Sabha Hamid Ansari over the issue.

His meetings with Gandhi and Ansari came days after he had sent them a note explaining how he is being targeted under a "political conspiracy" even after being "exonerated" by the due process of law.

He had yesterday rejected demands for his resignation saying the controversy is a conspiracy by his political adversaries.

Brushing aside the new twists and turns in the case, he had said "there is nothing new in the so-called revelations. It is the same allegations, which the courts had then inquired into and found it humanly impossible."

"There is no need for that. I have been cleared unequivocally by all courts, by the due process of law. Can anybody resign because some convict is making allegations," he said, he had said when asked whether he would resign.

The girl from Suryanelli in Idukki district was abducted in January 1996 and transported from place to place across Kerala and sexually exploited by different persons.

The victim had sent a letter to the Supreme Court last week, seeking a review of the apex court's order quashing all charges against Kurien.

PTI