Kerala Bar Hotels Association working president Biju Ramesh came up with fresh allegations on Wednesday that he had given a Rs 1 crore bribe to State Excise Minister K Babu who belongs to the Congress party.
The allegation comes just a day after Kerala Congress (M) leader KM Mani resigned as State Finance Minister over corruption allegations in connection with the bar bribery case.
Biju Ramesh said that he gave the bribe of Rs 1 crore directly to the minister at the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram in two instalments, Manorama Online reported.
He also alleged that Vigilance Director Vinson M Paul refused to file a complaint and that he ordered that evidence not be taken in this matter, reports said.
Meanwhile, Excise Minister K Babu claimed that Biju Ramesh has threatened him so that he will withdraw the defamation case he has filed against him.
"The allegations are being raised without providing any statement or evidence. Biju Ramesh had not raised my name even when the magistrate was recording his statement under section 164," Manorama Online quoted the minister as saying.
