THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government has received legal advice which states the Governor's permission is not required to initiate a vigilance probe against Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala. As per the legal advice, the Governor's permission is not needed and only the Speaker's permission is enough as Chennithala was not a minister at the time of the bar bribery allegation. The Home Ministry had not yet sent the file for the vigilance preliminary inquiry to the Raj Bhavan as the government was about the move.

The government had decided to approach the Speaker in the case of Chennithala and the Governor for the probe against VS Sivakumar and K Babu, who are accused in the bar bribery case. However, it went on to seek legal advice after some top officials suggested that it should approach the Governor in the case of Chennithala too. With the government receiving the legal advice in its favour, it is likely to send the file to the Raj Bhavan today itself.