Kerala govt appeals against HC order

The court made remarks against the CM in connection with land grab cases

Kerala government today appealed to the High court to revoke the remarks made against Chief Minister Oommen Chandy by the single judge in his order on Friday, in connection with the land grab cases in which the chief minister's former gunman Salim Raj was involved. A division bench of the High Court chaired by Justice K M Joseph, will consider the appeal soon. Advocate General K P Dhandapani requested the court to consider the case today itself as the single bench order defamed the chief minister and is against the directions of the Supreme court.

OmmenChandy had held discussions with the Advocate General and he got the legal advice to go for anappeal as Justice Harun Al Rasheed, the single judge in the land grab case, had not allowed the chief minister or hisoffice to explain their versions. The government in its appeal maintained that the court had made its observations without hearing Chandy and that the criticism was against natural justice.

With Lok Sabha polls round the corner, the United Democratic Front [UDF] leadership is afraid that the criticism may hamper their prospects and views thatthe removal of the court's observations would stand the Front in good stead.

Thecourt had sharply criticised the CM's office while ordering CBI probe into nefarious land deals in Kadakampally in Thiruvananthapuram and Kalamassery in Ernakulam in which CM Ommen Chandy's former gunman Salim Raj is one of the accused.