In a first, complaint against finance minister to be forwarded to assembly ethics committee

Thiruvananthapuram: Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan decided to forward the infringement notice of the opposition against Finance Minister Thomas Isaac to the consideration of the Assembly Privileges and Ethics Committee.

The opposition alleged that the finance minister leaked the CAG report against KIIFB to the media. Normally, the report is first submitted in assembly and then disclosed. However, the finance minister leaked the report violating this rule.

This is a politically motivated action jointly done by the finance minister and secretary. It is equal to disgracing the assembly, the opposition alleged while issuing the infringement notice against finance minister.

The Speaker found out that the allegations are true and forwarded the complaint to the Assembly Privileges and Ethics Committee for consideration. The committee will seek explanation from Isaac. Earlier, the finance minister had given an explanation to the Speaker visiting him in person.

Though normally further actions are not taken after giving explanation on an infringement notice against a minister, this is for the first time it is being forwarded to the Privileges and Ethics Committee.