Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said the government might need to explore the assertion that an array of UDF leaders had accepted substantial amounts as bribe from the Kerala Bar Hotel Association (KBHA) in 2015 to expedite the relicensing of more than 300 bars the Oommen Chandy administration had shut down on the premise that they were unhygienic.
Hotelier Biju Ramesh, former acting president of the KBHA, had alleged on Monday that the guild of bar hotel owners had collected and paid substantial bribes to at least three prominent leaders other than Kerala Congress (M) leader and then Finance Minister K.M. Mani to get their businesses back on track. He had named K.M. Mani as a respondent in his complaint to an anti-corruption court here in 2015.
Mr. Vijayan said he was not fully seized of the merit of the allegation. However, on the face of it, the accusation appeared to warrant an examination.
