Court seeks all documents in 'Kerala bar scam' case

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 16  A court hearing the now infamous 'bar scam' case here on Saturday asked the vigilance probe team to hand over all the case documents to it.

Giving the direction to the vigilance team, the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Court posted the case for February 16.

The latest direction came after the vigilance probe team led by R. Sukehsan submitted a 148-page report that literally gives a clean chit to former finance minister K.M. Mani, who resigned last year after the high court upheld this vigilance court's direction to the probe team for a further probe in the bar bribery scam.

In the report that Sukeshan submitted, the highlight is that they could not establish any evidence to prove that a bribe was asked or given.

Mani had to quit on November 10 last year following certain adverse remarks made by the high court against him, while giving the nod for a further probe, as asked by the vigilance court.

The case surfaced in October 2014 when whistle-blower bar owner Biju Ramesh alleged that Mani was given Rs.1 crore as bribe by Kerala's bar owners to ensure reopening of the 418 closed bars in the state.