Case against Congress MP for judge-bribe allegation

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Police on Tuesday charged Congress MP K Sudhakaran with 'concealing design to commit crime' following his claim last week that he was witness to a Supreme Court judge being bribed in 1994.

A case against Sudhakaran under Sections 120 and 200 of the Indian Penal Code for 'concealing design to commit offences and using false declaration as true respectively' was filed on a complaint by a lawyers' forum in Thiruvananthapuram which alleged his speech amounted to insulting the judiciary. Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily disapproved of Sudhakaran's remarks saying such allegations could make people lose confidence in the judiciary.

Sudhakaran's sensational speech at Kottarakkara in Kollam last Saturday had sparked a huge controversy in political and legal circles. Congress has distanced itself from Sudhakaran's adverse remarks, holding that the party was against any attempt that would dent judiciary's credibility.

Sudhakaran, a former state minister who now represents Kannur in the Lok Sabha, had made the charge without naming the judge at the meeting organised by supporters of R Balakrishna Pillai, who was recently sentenced to one year imprisonment by the SC in a corruption case. The minister disapproved the remarks saying, "you cannot pass remarks that will bring the institution to disrepute''.