'Freedom of media not for tarnishing others'

Thiruvathapuram, April 28: The freedom that the media gets should not be used to tarnish others, said a Kerala minister on Tuesday. State Excise Minister K. Babu, 63, who has won every election since 1991, is currently feeling the heat after a prominent bar owner, Biju Ramesh, med him in a statement to a magistrate that the minister demanded Rs.10 crore to reduce the annual bar licence fee. “This statement of Ramesh is baseless. He says this occurred in 2013. If that be the case, when Ramesh first raised the issue of bribes in the bar scam in October last year, he did not me me nor two other Congress ministers. At that time he said it was state Fince Minister K.M. Mani who was given Rs.1 crore. In March this year, he says, I sought Rs.10 crore in bribe,” said Babu. “After Ramesh spoke about Rs.10 crore, you (media) have been weaving stories based on his testimony. But what you fail to realise is that by airing false and baseless allegations, a reputation that I built over 49 years fell flat. Please do not do this, the best you can do is to find out if there is any iota of truth...,” said Babu trying to control his tears. (IANS)