The office of Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan has denied that he had travelled to foreign destinations in the company of some individuals named as accused in the UAE consulate linked gold smuggling case.
The rebuttal comes in the wake of the claim by State president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) K. Surendran that Mr. Sreeramakrishnan's foreign trips were suspect. He had also alleged that the gold smuggling case suspect Swapna Suresh's latest sworn statement in court had cast the Speaker's office in an unflattering light.
The office termed the "disinformation campaign" as an attempt to lay down a smokescreen of lies to tarnish the public standing of the constitutional office of the Speaker. Mr. Sreeramakrishnan had not met any of the suspects in any foreign country.
The Speaker had travelled to foreign nations on the invitation of organisations and also for visiting family members. He had undertaken the trips by observing official protocol and with the knowledge of the State government. The public could avail themselves of the details of the Speaker's foreign trips from his office in the Legislative Secretariat.
