THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan has said that the news on gold smuggling case being surfaced in media for the past few days are baseless and unreliable. Speaker’s office in a press-note issued on Wednesday has said that the deceitful campaign linking speaker and his office with the scam have no connection with facts and reality.

The present interpretation comes on a case which is currently being investigated by probe agencies for the past five days. Fake news based on wild guess is not right. “I have clarified all apprehensions on my foreign trips. I was forced to go on such trips as I was invited by certain NRI organisations from abroad for their programmes. I have also undertaken certain trips on personal commitments as some of my relatives were abroad,” he said.

Certain vested interest groups are trying to make a controversy on the issue. There is nothing to hide. Everything concerned with speaker’s foreign trips was made clear in his Facebook post. If any more details are needed they are available in the office and all such trips were informed in concerned embassies.

“I had never met nor travelled with any of the accused in the gold smuggling case abroad. All allegations against me are baseless. Fake news is purposefully created from some corners and then it is being transmitted by everyone. It is unfair to drag a constitutional post into unnecessary controversies, allegations and counter-allegations,” he said.

“Trips made for official purposes were undertaken after gaining due official clearance. Only the costs for official journeys were levied from the treasury. Cost for those trips which were conducted on invites of certain organisations was levied by themselves,” the press note read. The speaker’s office also said that allegations which are not based on facts should be ignored.