Former Minister Vishnu Bundhun lodged a complaint at the central CID this morning against Minister Avinash Teeluck. This complaint of the former Minister for Social Security under the Labour Party follows a reference by Minister Teeluck at the MSM press conference on Wednesday. Avinash Teeluck claimed that Vishnu Bundhun had been convicted of an act of corruption in the past. Commenting on the Siddick Chady case, Minister Avinash Teeluck said that he (Chady) is the second Minister (of the Labour Party who has been convicted of an act of corruption. He added that in the past, there had been the case of Vishnu Bundhun. The Minister’s speech was also broadcast during several MBC television bulletins.
In 1999, Vishnu Bundhun was accused of having conspired with Sookdeo Rambaruth, ex-chairman of the National Pension Savings Fund, to demand commissions from Ishwarduthsingh Dabeesing. The aim: to award the contract to supply 50,000 calves to his brother-in-law, Satyam Alleck. At the time, Vishnu Bundhun was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment. But on appeal, the judges overturned their verdict.
The former minister then took them to court, claiming Rs 20 million for false allegations. When the case was appealed to the Supreme Court in July 2017, Ishwarduthsingh Dabeesing and Satyam Alleck had apologised. Vishnu Bundhun had then accepted their apology and withdrawn his suit.
Vishnu Bundhun said he had suffered great prejudice. He was accompanied by lawyers Neelkanth Dulloo and Kavi Veeriah. “The Minister should have checked his information before opening his mouth, and the MBC should have checked Minister Avinash Teeluck’s statements before broadcasting them,” he said.
For his part, Mr Neelkanth Dulloo called on the MBC management to show professionalism instead of acting as a mouthpiece for propaganda.
