Kolusu concealed FERA case in affidavit: Report

Noose seems to be tightening around the neck of secondary education minister Kolusu Parthasarathi.

It is confirmed that the minister did not mention the case registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate under FERA (which was later replaced by Foreign Exchange Management Act) in his affidavit submitted to the Election Commission in the 2009 Assembly elections.

Vijayawada RDO and the then Penamaluru Assembly constituency returning officer S Venkat Rao, who submitted his preliminary report to district collector Jyothi Buddha Prakash, has stated that Parthasarathi had filled the columns, where he was supposed to mention about the case, with words ‘Nil’ and ‘Not Applicable’.

According to sources, the RDO has got the affidavit copy from the treasury in Machilipatnam and found that the minister did not mention anything about his case in the specified columns.

However, the RDO is learnt to have sought to examine the copy of the chargesheet of the FERA violation case and whether there were any cases registered against the minister under Section 420 of the IPC before submitting his final report.

When asked about the findings of the RDO over the lapse committed by the minister in the affidavit, chief electoral officer Bhanwarlal made it clear that a case would be registered against the minister as per the Representation of the People Act, 1951, if it was proved that he had concealed the information related to the FERA violation case.

It may be mentioned here that the Election Commission directed the Krishna district collector and election officer to look into the affidavit filed by Parthasarathi in the 2009 Assembly elections after a petition filed by Vizagbased retired IAS officer EAS Sarma that the minister had concealed the fact that he was chargesheeted in a FERA violation case.