The case is back in the news and Kurien has been summoned to appear before a local court and ``give his version of the facts''. The case is about a teenaged girl who was kept in captivity for 40 days and allegedly gangraped by several politicians including Kurien, whom the girl identified from a photograph in the media. The case had shaken Kerala between 1996 and 1998 but Kurien managed to win Lok Sabha elections twice after that.

The sordid details of the case are enough to warrant the sacking of any politician from whichever party he or she belongs to and Sonia was forced to take it up with Kurien after the issue was back in the news a few days ago. It comes on the heels of the Jessica Lal murder case after which Sonia had ordered theChandigarh Congress chief Venod Sharma to step down.

Sharma's son Manu Sharma is the main accused in the Jessica Lal case and this was enough for Sonia to take action against Venod Sharma. Ever since Sonia took over as Congress president, she has been laying stress on the ethical conduct of partymen and an Ethics Committee was set up by her in the party, headed by A K Antony.

The Committee has been asked to look into the Venod Sharma and the P J Kurien instances but early indications are that Sonia will stick by Kurien, at least for the moment. Kurien is a staunch 10, Janpath, loyalist and was nominated the party's Chief whip in the erstwhile Lok Sabha.

His equation with Sonia is definitely better than that of Venod Sharma and this is bound to have its effect. Consequently, Sonia has asked Congress spokespersons to take a pro-Kurien line which they did today.

``The charges against Kurien are politically motivated. Since he has not committed any crime, what action could be taken against him...He is notguilty,'' said Rajya Sabha member Vayalar Ravi who was the PCC president when the case was first filed in 1996.

Ravi said the Left had made the case an election issue in 1996 but Kurien had won the polls then and in 1998. He added that Kurien's summoning by the lower court did not mean that prima facie, a case has been established against Kurien.

Ravi said two inquiries by senior police officials had exonerated Kurien in the case and a lower court and the High Court had also rejected petitions in the matter. Kurien too has taken a similar line of defence and until his role is clearly proven, Sonia is unlikely to take action against him.