Achuthanandan’s plea in sex scandal case adjourned till Sept 1

Kozhikode: A court today adjourned to September 1 a petition by CPI(M) veteran and former chief minister V S Achuthanandan challenging the closure report by Special Investigation Team in the 1997 ice cream parlour sex scandal case.

Judicial Magistrate P T Prakassan adjourned the petition in which Achuthanandan had pleaded that he be heard before the court took a decision on the SIT’s report that there was no ground for re-opening the case.

The previous LDF government headed by Achuthanandan had ordered the fresh probe after allegations that Industries Minister and IUML leader P K Kunhalikutty had sabotaged the earlier probe.

Achuthanandan had appeared before the court on July 6 and filed the petition. He also submitted that he had moved the Kerala High Court seeking a CBI probe into the scandal.

The case pertains to allegations that an ice cream parlour in Kozhikode beach was used as a cover for running a sex racket and the names of several politicians, judicial officers and other VIPs figured in the scam.

Though Kunhalikutty never became an accused in the case, he had come under a cloud in the wake of the scandal and had to quit the UDF ministry then.

The scandal hit the headlines again last year after a relative of Kunhalikutty alleged he had helped the IUML leader to wriggle out of the case by indulging in improper means, including bribing the witnesses.