CPI(M) State secretary sues businessperson, giving legal dimension to leaked letter row

The political sparring between the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and the Congress over a leaked “confidential letter’’ to the Polit Bureau implicating top leaders in a financial scam centred on a U.K.-based businessperson from Kerala, Rajesh Krishna, took a legal dimension on Tuesday with party State secretary M.V. Govindan suing the accuser, Muhammed Sharshad, an entrepreneur based in Chennai, for libel. 

Mr. Sharshad had come under media spotlight after he claimed that he had dispatched a secret letter to the CPI(M) general secretary regarding the alleged financial shenanigans of party leaders involving Mr. Krishna.

Mr. Sharshad claimed that the CPI(M)’s 24th Party Congress in Madurai in April 2025 had ejected him from the venue based on the complaint.

Subsequently, Mr. Krishna sued Mr. Sharshad for ₹10 crore in a Delhi court, accusing the latter of injuring his reputation by broadcasting conspiracy theories that falsely implicated the plaintiff and a galaxy of CPI(M) leaders in financial wrongdoings and corruption. 

The controversy snowballed with Mr. Sharshad alleging in the media that Mr. Govindan’s son had leaked the letter to Mr. Krishna for alleged business favours. 

Subsequently, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) raised imputations of corruption, nepotism, money laundering, and violation of foreign exchange laws against an array of CPI(M) leaders named by Mr. Sharshad in the controversial letter. Both parties demanded a public explanation from Mr. Govindan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

In the libel notice, Mr. Govindan’s counsel termed Mr. Shershad’s allegations as “false, baseless and wanton”. The notice accused Mr. Shershad of raising “reckless imputations” of corruption, violation of party code, and misuse of political office against Mr. Govindan.

The notice alleged that Mr. Shershad had a personal axe to grind against Mr. Krishna and had sought to gain a propaganda advantage by raking up the controversy. 

Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (CPI) State secretary Binoy Viswam said the purported letter leak was in the domain of media speculation and not worthy of any comment.

CPI(M) leaders, including Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian, Thomas Isaac, and Elamaram Kareem, flagged a well-entrenched political plot to put the party and the government on the defensive in the run-up to the local body polls.