A FINANCIAL headache is brewing for depositors of a Sharia-compliant cooperative society promoted by CPI(M) leaders in Kannur, with complaints surfacing that depositors have been unable to withdraw their money. Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan has assured that the complaints will be investigated, report online news sites.

However, in a development that adds a twist to the controversy, Nassar, one of the depositors who had openly raised the issue, has now said that his deposit of Rs 1 lakh has been returned.

He had earlier said that repeated attempts to recover the money had failed and that he had been unable to get a response from M. Shajar, the key promoter of the institution.

“I tried calling Shajar, but he is not answering the call. I have no other option but to seek redress through legal means,” Nassar had said.

The issue came to the government’s notice on Thursday after T.K. Govindan, the MLA from Thaliparamba, handed over complaints from depositors in the Mayyil area to Chief Minister Satheesan.

Govindan said several complainants had approached him after facing difficulties in getting back their deposits.

“After going through the complaints I submitted, the Chief Minister said that a probe would be launched,” Govindan said.

Govindan also said he was aware that concerns over the institution had first surfaced in the Mayyil CPI(M) unit and were subsequently discussed before the Kannur district CPI(M) committee.

The issue assumes political significance as Govindan was himself a prominent CPI(M) leader in Kannur until the recent Assembly election.

He contested Thaliparamba as an Independent after the party decided to field the wife of State CPI(M) Secretary M.V. Govindan.

With the Congress-led UDF supporting him, Govindan secured a notable victory.

Halal Fayida Cooperative Society, a Sharia-compliant financial institution, was inaugurated by then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Kannur on December 24, 2017, in the presence of senior CPI(M) leaders from the district.

M. Shajar, a prominent CPI(M) leader who rose through the party’s youth wing, was its chief promoter.

The institution had its roots in the CPI(M)-led effort to promote Islamic banking in Kerala.

The LDF government’s earlier attempt to establish an Islamic bank during 2006-11 had faced objections from the Reserve Bank of India, which maintained that the proposal was inconsistent with existing banking laws.

The initiative was subsequently pursued through a cooperative society structure outside the direct regulatory framework governing conventional banks.

Primary cooperative societies operate under the State cooperative system, although many accept public deposits and provide loans.

The model was projected as a means of bringing people seeking Sharia-compliant financial arrangements into the formal financial system.

While Nassar’s Rs 1 lakh has now been returned, complaints from other depositors have brought the institution back into the political spotlight.

The proposed probe will now have to establish whether the difficulties faced by depositors are isolated instances or point to a wider financial problem.

For the CPI(M), particularly its Kannur organisation, the controversy is an uncomfortable reminder of an initiative once promoted with considerable political backing.

Messi deal: CM promises action

Satheesan on Thursday said the controversial agreement with the Argentine Football Association (AFA) linked to Lionel Messi’s proposed visit to the state in 2025 was being subjected to a detailed probe, with preliminary findings pointing to grave errors and possible GST violations.

Satheesan said the agreement had been handed over to a private company without inviting an Expression of Interest, while the state government appeared to have been kept in the dark.

“We are seriously looking into it,” he said, adding that the Finance Department would take steps to recover any loss to the exchequer if GST violations were established.

He said the preliminary report had also revealed that the GST issue had been detected during the previous government’s tenure but was subsequently put into cold storage.

A detailed probe is now underway, and the nature of further action would depend on its findings, he said.

The government would examine whether the state’s interests had been adequately protected and fix responsibility wherever necessary.

On the Meta controversy, Satheesan said his only request to Meta concerned the official Instagram account of the Chief Minister’s Office.

He denied seeking the removal of posts critical of him and said nobody in his office had approached Meta for such action.

“The Left people who got my interview to a leading television channel removed by writing to Meta are now alleging that I had made such a request. This is totally baseless,” he said.

Satheesan added that he was willing to write to Meta asking that any posts about him that had been removed be restored, and would support media organisations taking up the matter with the company.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet decided to provide Rs 2 lakh each to the families/victims of the 2024 Wayanad disaster, involving a total outlay of Rs 5 crore.

Guidelines for distribution of Onam bonus to employees of PSUs for 2025-26 were also approved.

The Chief Minister said commercial movement of EXIM cargo through Vizhinjam port would begin on August 18, marking a shift from its present transhipment-only operations.

The Cabinet also decided to oppose the Centre’s Mines and Minerals Development Bill, terming it an encroachment on the State’s constitutional domain.

Satheesan said land-related matters had traditionally remained within the state’s sphere and that the proposed legislation struck at federalism.

Kerala would inform the Centre of its opposition and, if the Bill became law, would seek legal recourse.

An SOP for dealing with cases of fishermen going missing at sea is expected to be announced shortly, the CM said.