Thomas Chandy is the richest legislator in the Kerala Assembly.
Right by the side of the beautiful Vembanad backwaters in Kerala's Alappuzha district, around 150 kms from Thiruvananthapuram, lies the controversial plot owned by Kerala Minister Thomas Chandy - state's richest legislator. The land has been set aside as an agricultural area in accordance to the state rules, but locals claim the paddy field is being illegally filled even after he became a minister.
The illegal land filling has been continuing in this area, even after Mr Chandy became a minister in April 2017.
Vinod, a whistle blower and a former CPM loyalist, filed a complaint after RTI filed by him confirmed that the plot owned by the minister allegedly encroached on 5 acres of government land, and stretches meant for public passage.
"Thomas Chandy became minister on April 1st. Even on April 5th there was illegal filling of land. There is enough evidence against the minister, and yet no case has been filed against him," Vinod said.
Based on his complaint, local revenue officials issued a stop memo to the resort owned by Mr Chandy in May, a month after he was made state Transport Minister.
The plot in question is strategically located and is estimated to be worth crores.
"This is a grave issue. The minister's company has encroached the public road, the government land and illegally converted the wetland which is part of the Ramsar site and started construction of his private resort," lawyer Harish Vasudev, who is representing Vinod in High Court, told NDTV.
The plot in Alappuzha owned by Thomas Chandy allegedly encroached on 5 acres of government land, and stretches meant for public passage.
In the preliminary report of the Alappuzha District Collector, the minister's Lake Palace Resort is indicted for reclaiming paddy land for a parking area, diverting the water stream without permission and construction of road using MP funds. All this, in collusion with local revenue officials. Thomas Chandy's staff at the Resort have denied these allegations, saying they have all required permissions from the various paddy field owners to make the required changes to water courses around the paddy fields.
The company issued a statement, claiming that the allegations were due to vested interests against the minister, who is a well known entrepreneur.
"The company has submitted all the relevant documents pertaining to the property substantiating the facts as proof to the High Court. As the matter is subjudice, the Collector's enquiry in this matter is contempt of court and we have filed the affidavit on this before the honourable High Court... We are ready to showcase the proof to any common public as we are clear in our conscience and are running this resort in the best manner", Sales and Marketing Manager of Lake Palace Resort Bency George told NDTV.
The minister has come under attack from the Congress-led UDF opposition and BJP ever since the allegations surfaced some time back.
"These are serious allegations and the Chief Minister has to take action. The collector has submitted a detailed a report. The minister has to resign", Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala told NDTV.
The Pinarayi Vijayan government has already had two ministers resign in its first year of governance. While EP Jayarajan had to quit in 2016 over alleged nepotism, AK Saseendran was forced to quit from the Cabinet after being caught on record having lewd conversations with a woman earlier this year. His exit led to the entry of Mr Chandy in the cabinet.