Former Minister AK Saseendran was a relieved man on Wednesday, as he received a clean chit from the PS Antony Commission in the honey trap case nearly eight months after he resigned.
“I am happy that the Chief Minister has supported me,” Saseendran told the media on Wednesday, after the Commission report was accepted by the Pinarayi Vijayan cabinet.
Incidentally, the relief for Saseendran comes exactly a week after the NCP lost its only other Minister in the government, when Thomas Chandy, was forced to resign his post over land encroachment charges in the building of his private resort.
With the PS Antony Commission absolving Saseendran of any wrongdoing, it seems likely that the NCP will once again regain the ministerial berth it has held since the LDF came to power in 2016.
Speaking to media persons after the cabinet approved the Commission report, CM Pinarayi Vijayan confirmed that all the hurdles to Saseendran’s return as a minister had been cleared. However, he added, "It's not for me alone to decide on it, but for all those who are concerned to take the decision."
Saseendran followed the lead of Pinarayi, telling media persons, “I alone can’t take a stand on returning to the Minister post. I have my party and the Left Democratic Front to take a decision on that. They will take decision on it at the right time. My duty is to wait till the decision is taken.”
Though the Commission has taken more than six months in excess of the time originally given to it to probe the case, Saseendran said that he had no desire to lament the delay in clearing his name.
“I am not feeling pessimistic about anything. I am optimistic about everything. The time given to the Commission was three months. But then it needed nine months. It took the time it needed,” he said.
"There is no reason for me to be in any hurry. My party and the LDF haven’t been unfair to me and I don't think that they would be unfair to me," he added.
He also said that while there were reports of a political conspiracy being mentioned in the probe report, he did not have any doubts against anyone.
Saseendran said that though he was always sure of being cleared in the case, he had resigned from his ministerial post in the interests of public integrity. " I could have said that I would resign only after the probe is done. But I took the stand that it was not fair for me to continue as Minister while the probe was going on. The public and the media have given me great support," he said.
On the Commission recommendation that the government bring in laws to regulate the media, Saseendran said that this matter will have to be examined in detail. “As far as I know the CM only said that the recommendation will examined before taking a decision on it. How can the CM say that the Commission can’t make such a recommendation?” he asked.
Interestingly, even as Thomas Chandy had resigned his post last week, the NCP had remained confident that regaining a ministerial post was only a question of time. Speaking to the media, the state party President TP Peethambaran had said that Saseendran will return to the government as soon as he received a clean chit.