K.G. Balakrishnan

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan. 6: The CPM today broke its long silence on the corruption allegations against two sons-in-law of former Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan, with one politburo member stressing that the ex-judge was himself not under the scanner while another saying the charges were grave.

Neither demanded Balakrishnan’s resignation as head of the National Human Rights Commission.

S. Ramachandran Pillai said in Delhi that there were no serious charges against Balakrishnan but only against his relatives. If found guilty, they should be punished. Sitaram Yechury said the charges were serious and should be probed.

Pillai denied that the CPM had been silent on the subject and that this was because Balakrishnan had helped party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the Lavalin case. He claimed the Kerala chief minister and home minister had initiated action quickly after receiving the graft complaints.

Sources said the available politburo had discussed the state unit’s embarrassing silence and asked it to come out with its opinion. The party state secretariat promptly issued a statement, saying it was for the Centre and the Supreme Court to take action.

The reason the CPM broke its silence — after more than a week — seems to be the increasing public disquiet and former Supreme Court judge V.R. Krishna Iyer’s criticism of the party leadership’s attitude. “When one’s duty is to speak, speak one should. Silence is guilt,” Iyer had said.

The party secretariat said Iyer’s comments were borne out of a misunderstanding.

Home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan denied any links between the CPM and Balakrishnan. The Congress, which had appointed Balakrishnan as NHRC chairman, should comment on the allegations, he said.

He said that those criticising the CPM had forgotten that Balakrishnan’s son-in-law P.V. Sreenijan, one of the accused, was a Congress member. Sreenijan quit the Youth Congress after the controversy broke.

Asked about CPM daily Deshabhimani blacking out the allegations, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the newspaper took its own decisions — it was only barred from carrying “anti-CPM news”.

Even today, the CPM was careful not to attack the former judge personally. The CPI, though, asked Balakrishnan to “step down (from the NHRC) and clear his name”.