Hoteliers approach High Court

KOCHI: Three luxury hotel owners in Kannur approached the Kerala High Court on Friday, seeking issuance of three-star licences, which had been delayed owing to a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation, (CBI), against the officials of the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC).The petitioners, Vintage Residency, Koothuparamba, K K Leisures and Tourism International Pvt Ltd and Surya Residency, both in Kannur, had sought a directive to declare their eligibility for the three-star classification.The Kochi unit of the CBI had conducted raids on eight star hotels in the Malabar region, which allegedly achieved star-ratings by bribing the ITDC officials. The CBI had arrested three officials, Velu Murugan, assistant director of ITDC, Kochi, Sabu, tourist information officer and Radhakrishnan, a staff of the ITDC.A case has been registered against them for criminal conspiracy and also under the Prevention of Corruption Act.The petitioners submitted that the hotels were constructed after getting the required approval from the ITDC and that they had approached the regional director of ITDC in Chennai, to conduct inspections for granting the three-star status.The team from the ITDC inspected the hotels on September 30 last year and told the hoteliers that three-star classification had been approved for them and the certificates would be issued in the usual manner from the regional director’s office in Chennai. But, as the certificates were delayed, the petitioners approached the ITDC office, only to discover that the CBI had registered cases of bribery against the officials, in connection with the granting of three-star classification for eight hotels.The hotels of the petitioners were included in the CBI list, and this would mean further delay in issuance of the certificates, the petitioner pointed out.