The Congress-led Opposition wore black gags and did a sit-in at the state Assembly gate on Wednesday, protesting the Speaker’s refusal to allow a discussion of the ISRO land affair. They vowed to step up their demand for the resignation of Forest Minister Binoy Vishwam over the issue.

This was after Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan paid no heed to the Opposition’s demand for a comprehensive probe, including of the minister’s role in the affair, and announced an inquiry into lapses by officials.

Last year, ISRO had advertised for land to set up the Indian institute of Space Science and Technology, not far away its Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram. It decided on a private plantation, the 707-acre Merchiston Estate in Ponmudi belonging to Xavi Mano Mathew, firming a deal to buy 219 acres of its land.

The state Government objected, saying the land ISRO bought from Mathew had been classified as ecologically fragile and is supposedly vested with the Government—in other words, Xavi had sold ISRO land supposed to be under the Government, even if the Government had never taken actual possession of it.

The Forest Department handed a notice to ISRO cancelling the deal, while ISRO indicated it would take legal steps if the notice was not withdrawn. The seller, Xavi, maintained that his land really could not be put under the ecologically fragile lands category, demanding that it be denotified.

The Opposition has been alleging that the minister was involved in helping Xavi palm off the unsaleable ecologically fragile land to ISRO, while the minister has insisted otherwise.