Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 22 (IANS): Kerala's former Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala on Friday testified before a local court here on the alleged clandestine deal giving sanction to three new breweries and a distillery in the state, later cancelled by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in 2018

Chennithala was the then Leader of Opposition and he led a massive campaign both inside and outside the Assembly. Though Vijayan stood his ground, later he decided to cancel the licenses that was granted.

On Friday, after giving his statement before the court, Chennithala told the media that he is pursuing this case because there was a clear cut case of corruption in the sanction.

"And moreover, another reason why I am going forward in the case is the Vijayan government is again trying to give sanction for breweries and distilleries. The court has now made two former Ministers in the first Vijayan government (2016-21) - the present LDF convenor E.P. Jayarajan and V.S.Sunil Kumar - as witnesses in the case and have asked them to appear before the court," he said.

Vijayan, then had sanctioned three breweries in Kannur, Palakkad and Ernakulam and a distillery in Thrissur -- the first ever since 1999.

Chennithala has alleged that no rules were followed while issuing the licences to four companies and has been taking on Vijayan since then, terming it one of the biggest corruption cases in the state.