I have not been made an accused in Titanium case, says Chandy
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Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Wednesday said that he had not been made an accused by the court in the Titanium case.
Replying to a query by the media on a vigilance court verdict directing further probe in a case of alleged corruption in the setting up of an effluent treatment plant at Travancore Titanium Products (TTP) here, Chandy said the court had not made him an accused in the case.
The case was registered upon a complaint by a pro-CPI-M CITU leader, Chandy said.
Rejecting Opposition allegation of irregularities, Chandy said he had taken the decision to set up the plant in good faith and was "very proud" of the move to protect the interest of workers.
"Why did LDF, which is raising allegations of corruption now, not order a probe when they were in power," he asked. "It was during the previous LDF rule that the treatment plant was inaugurated," he said.
Explaining how the plant came to be set up, Chandy said that the state pollution control board had issued a closure notice to the company along with some others as per a Supreme Court directive.
"As far as I am concerned, what I did was to ensure that a group of factories and TTP was not closed down and I had taken an active role only to protect the interests of the employees," he said.
The case pertains to alleged irregularities in the setting up of the effluent treatment plant at the state-owned TTP, one of Kerala's oldest public sector firms. The apex court monitored committee had recommended closure of about 198 units in the state when Chandy was the chief minister in 2005.