No evidence against Mani in bar bribery case: Vigilance

The Vigilance Bureau today submitted in a special court here that there was no proof against Kerala Congress (M) leader and former state finance minister K M Mani in the controversial bar bribery case.
This is the third time that the Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau (VACB) has submitted such a report.
The bureau had submitted two reports during the UDF rule stating that there was no evidence that Mani received bribes.
The latest report was submitted by VACB Superintendent of Police K E Baiju of Special Investigation Unit-l of Thiruvananthapuram in the special vigilance court here today.
Vigilance sources said it was a "refer report" to close the case against Mani, who served as the finance minister in the UDF ministry led by Oommen Chandy, for want of evidence.

Mani had resigned on November 10, 2015 following the Kerala High Court's observations in the case.

The Vigilance court had issued an order in August, 2016 for a fresh probe into the case.
The High Court in January this year had asked the vigilance to submit a report on a further probe in the case within 45 days.
The case relates to the charge by Kerala State Bar Hotel Owners Association that it had paid Rs one crore bribe to Mani for getting a favourable decision to reopen closed bars in 2013-14.
The bribe charge was raised by the association's Working President Biju Ramesh.

Ramesh had in October, 2014 alleged that Mani demanded Rs five crore from the Association and accepted Rs one crore as bribe for reopening 400-odd closed foreign liquor bars.
The political significance of the case was such that after the LDF came to power in May, 2016, the Kerala Congress (M) broke its three decades old ties with the UDF over differences in the bar case.
KC(M) with seven MLAs was sitting as a separate bloc in the assembly keeping an equidistance from both ruling CPI-M led LDF, Congress headed UDF Opposition and BJP led NDA.
It is also to be noted that the report comes at a time when a debate is on over the possibility of KC-M joining LDF.

CPI, the second largest partner in LDF, had openly opposed any such move, stating that the party did not want to compromise on its approach to corruption.
Reacting to the development in the case, Mani said he was not "very enthused' as the case was pending before the court.
"Let the court decide. I do not have to say anything more now. But I always believe that truth will win," the 84-year-old Kerala Congress(M) supremo said.
Mani also maintained that KC(M) would continue to keep equidistance from all fronts and parties in the state.
He also termed as baseless reports that KC(M) would work along with LDF.