Ex-chief justice's son-in-law quits Youth Congress

Facing a vigilance probe over allegations of amassing wealth, P V Sreemijan, son-in-law of former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan, on Wednesday resigned from the membership of the Youth Congress.

A former state vice-president of the Youth Congress, Sreenijan had been under pressure from his own party after facing allegations that he had built assets disproportionately to his income as a lawyer. According to sources, Sreenijan's resignation has been accepted by Kerala Youth Congress chief P C Vishnu Nath.

The issue came up hotly in the state committee meeting of the Youth Congress held in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, attended by Rizwan Arshad, its national secretary. Sreenijan had unsuccessfully contested the last assembly polls from Njarakkal segment in Erakulam district.

The Kerala government had begun a vigilance inquiry into the allegations against Sreenijan on receiving a private complaint that he had amassed wealth. He had failed to receive any political relief, with leaders of his own party distancing themselves from him.

Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan said the government would also take action against Balakrishnan's younger brother K G Bhaskaran, a government pleader, if any complaint was received. Coming under the shadow of charges of amassing wealth, Bhaskaran had on Tuesday gone on medical leave after the advocate general suggested that he either quit or go on leave in the wake of the charges against him.