A day after the Kerala Finance Minister was forced to resign for his alleged role in the bar bribery case, a similar charge is being raised against the State Excise and Ports Minister.
The complainant, Biju Ramesh, a bar hotelier and working president of the Kerala Hotel and Bar Association, is the same in both cases, and therefore "lends substance'', say observers.
Ramesh told newspersons here that he had handed over Rs 50 lakh to K Babu, Minister for Excise and Ports, earlier this year at the latter's office at the Government Secretariat here.
This was after he was "forced to part with Rs 1 crore'' last year in similar circumstances, he said.
The Vigilance Director had refused to either acknowledge or take note of his complaints and allegations with regard to role of the minister in the bribery case.
Narco analysis
Ramesh said that he was ready to subject himself to narco analysis to prove his charges and dared if the Minister would be ready to do it for himself.
Meanwhile, Minister Babu responded saying that the allegations were part of a larger plot at framing him after he had initiated legal proceedings against Ramesh when he had aired the allegations in public earlier.
The Minister merely said he would press his charges and continue with the legal procedures and did not bother himself too much about the latter's fulminations.