Suryanelli rape: Govt defends PJ Kurien in Rajya Sabha

The government on Tuesday defended Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien, who has been under attack in connection with the Suryanelli rape issue, with parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath saying that police inquiries and courts have cleared him of all charges.

"A section of media and some political members have sought to drag Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Kurien in a rape case. It has emphatically been stated that he has never been accused in the Suryanelli rape case," Nath said making a statement the Rajya Sabha.

When the Minister rose to defend Kurien, CPI(M) members staged a walkout, with its senior leader Sitaram Yechury saying Kurien should defend himself.

"Let him (Kurien) come and defend. We cannot accept the executive defend the officer of legislature and undermine the sanctity of the Constitution," Yechury said.

Nath insisted that he was making statement upon direction by the chair.

He narrated the sequence of events related to the 17-year- old Suryanelli rape case since the time FIR was filed and how several police enquiries and judicial processes "acquitted" Kurien of all charges.

Kurien, a senior Congress leader from Kerala, has been under attack, particularly from Left parties after the victim demanded recently that he be made an accused in the case.

Kurien recently met Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari as also Congress President Sonia Gandhi to explain his position.

He also wrote a letter to all Rajya Sabha members on the eve of the start of the Budget Session on February 21, insisting that there was no case against him and allegations against him were false.