Sreekumar’s lawyers say diary not personal

At a press conference here, Sreekumar’s lawyers exhibited the original copy of the diary, bearing an endorsement by then IGP (Administration & Security), CID-Intelligence, O.P. Mathur. Last week, Mathur had denied endorsing any such register.

‘‘If the government doubts the contents and existence of the diary, it is free to get it examined by forensic experts,’’ said Yagnik. ‘‘In his affidavit, Sreekumar has already said that he is ready to undertake brainfinger printing and lie-detection tests if the other authorities named in it (diary) are also subjected to the same tests to establish its authenticity,’’ he added.

The lawyers alleged that the state government was raking up an old issue of departmental proceedings against Sreekumar, while he was on deputation with the Union Government in 1999, to justify their malafide intention behind not promoting him. They said, according to the All India Service (Conduct) Rules, Sreekumar was not supposed to correspond with the state government, while on deputation with the Union Government, and therefore had not concealed anything.

The lawyers said Sreekumar had been exonerated of the charges by the Union Government a month before the high-level Departmental Promotion Committee met in February and decided to supersede him.

These charges relate to alleged misconduct on part of Sreekumar while he was on deputation in 1999 and associated with Kerala Police which investigated the ISRO-espionage case. ‘‘None of the charges were of turpitude or regarding his honesty and integrity. Moreover, all the charges were dropped in January this year,’’ Patel said.

‘‘We think the State Government, specially Minister of State for Home Amit Shah who issued the statement, was not made aware of the legal provisions. We request the government not to make such baseless statements when the matter is subjudice,’’ they said.