Tags:
Journalism of Courage
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEBRUARY 16: The Kerala government today announced its decision to order a judicial inquiry into the allegation of “sexual and official harassment” levelled by former transport secretary and senior IAS officer Nalini Netto against former transport minister A Neelalohithdasan Nadar.
The state cabinet, which took the decision, entrusted Chief Minister E K Nayanar with the responsibility of taking further steps to constitute the judicial commission.
Dr Nadar had submitted his resignation on February 12.
The Janata Dal (Secular), to which Dr Nadar belongs, had demanded a judicial inquiry into Netto’s complaint. The JD (S) state leadership had said Dr Nadar had resigned from the cabinet only to bring out the truth through a judicial inquiry.
Asked if the Chief Secretary, to whom Nayanar had forwarded Netto’s complaint yesterday, would take “actions as per law”, Nayanar said that the judicial inquiry and the actions as per law could proceed simultaneously.
In this context, Finance Minister T Sivadasa Menon, who was also present, said an inquiry by a judicial commission and a probe by the special investigation team had progressed simultaneously into the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi. There were several such precedents.
Asked why Nayanar did not disclose the receipt of Netto’s complaint at the post-cabinet briefing on February 9, Nayanar said he had received the complaint only after the cabinet briefing.
Nalini Netto had submitted her complaint, dated February 1, 2000, to the Chief Minister on February 9.
In the five-page complaint she had described the former minister’s alleged misbehaviour with her in his chamber in the Legislature Complex on December 21, 1999 when she went there for a discussion on some official matters.
