Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan on Thursday attempted to mount a strong defence against the imputation that gold smuggling case suspect Swapna Suresh had implicated him in the racket.
Opposition parties had seized on the allegation to disadvantage the ruling front during the local body polls.
Mr. Sreeramakrishnan said he was willing to face any investigation agency as an ‘ordinary citizen’ and without the ‘insulation’ of his constitutional office to clarify the ‘vile lie.’ He had not accused any agency of bias and had no cause to mistrust them.
The Speaker challenged Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president K. Surendran to furnish evidence that he had abetted smugglers. He was considering legal action against the BJP leader.
The Speaker said he had interacted with Swapna as executive secretary to the UAE consulate general.
“She was a familiar face. I maintained an officially punctilious contact with her. Swapna's criminal background came as a shock,” he said.
The Speaker denied he had travelled together with Swapna or met with other suspects in the Gulf.
“My brother and sister work in the Gulf. My mother is with them. My son is doing an internship in the country. I visit them periodically. Often, the diaspora invites me,” he said.
The Speaker also slammed Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala for raising baseless allegations of corruption and extravagance against the Legislative Secretariat.
The Speaker denied there was any fraud in contracting the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society for carrying out works in the Assembly complex.
Sabha TV was a new concept for bringing the Assembly closer to the public and not an overreach. The chief consultant for Sabha TV worked for free.
The well-appointed Assembly lounge, which Mr. Chennithala had highlighted as wasteful expenditure, was widely appreciated for its aesthetics, he said.
