True, the Kerala High Court has said No to the demand of petitioner, CPI MLA V S Sunil Kumar for a court-monitored investigation into the allegation that the bar owners bribed the Finance Minister to secure a favourable decision on the reopening of closed bars in the State.

The Court has observed that there is no case for intervention in the ongoing Preliminary Enquiry (PE) in the case by the Vigilance Department ‘at this stage. But it is clear that the court has kept its options open - by not ruling out altogether intervention at a later stage should the need arise.

That must come as a relief to the petitioner. Sunil Kumar, who said that he welcomed the court order though he is not fully satisfied with it.

Secondly – and this is the most significant directive of the High Court: The Court has made it clear that the Vigilance Director need not consult the State Government on whether an FIR should be filed against K M Mani in the case. The court order grants virtual ‘autonomy’ to the VD in the matter. This cannot but cause utmost concern to the ruling United Democratic Front(UDF) leaders.

The million dollar question now is: will the Vigilance Director rise to the occasion and file a case against Mani now that he is armed with the court order? If he resists the pressure and orders the filing of a case – he has sought the legal opinion in the matter – then that would send the Congress-led UDF Government into a political tizzy. Such a denouement could put a big question mark on the VERY survival of the Oommen Chandy Government.

What is significant in the case is the determination of the working president of the Bar Owners Association (BOA), Biju Ramesh who made the sensational allegation against Mani to stick firmly to his guns. There is no question of changing his allegation and his stance in the matter, reiterated Ramesh in his reply to the Rs 10-crore defamation case slapped against him by Mani.

The Vigilance team which is conducting the preliminary enquiry is set to submit its report to the Vigilance Director soon, based mainly on the evidence recorded by Biju Ramesh and his driver. Reports have it that the driver has disclosed the names of the BOA office-bearers whom he took to the residence of Mani in a car. In his evidence, he is said to have claimed that there was a bag with the occupants of the car while they were going to meet Mani. But when they were returning, the bag was not there. Also, he is reported to have overheard the conversation of the car occupants in which they allegedly said that the bag contained an second installment of the amount – Rs one crore - to be handed over to Mani. This evidence is clinching enough for the Vigilance Director to go ahead and file a case against Mani, according to a section of the legal experts.

A buoyant Left Democratic Front led by the CPI(M) has turned up the heat on the beleaguered government and Mani by stepping up the agitation against the Finance Minister both inside and outside the State Assembly, the session of which is now on.

Also, last but not the least, the reported move to amend the prohibition policy, hinted at by Chief Minister in the Assembly has reinforced the sujspicion that there has been a ‘deal’ between the UDF Government and the bar owners in the case. Leader of the Opposition, V. S. Achuthanandan has promptly ‘twisted the knife’ in the Government’s wound by accusing it of reaching a deal with the bar owners, bowing to their pressure.

The coming days are crucial fore the battered UDF Government. If the Vigilance Director decides to file a case a case against Mani, the UDF Government may find it extremely difficult to handle the explosive political situation. Kerala is waiting with bated breath for the denouement. (IPA)