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The Kerala High Court yesterday dismissed petitions of opposition leader V S Achuthanandan and former bureaucrat Alphons Kannanthanam to against Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in the 1992 palm oil import case. |
Upholding the trial court decision, the high court also wondered if the petitioners were trying to delay the trial and making political capital out of it. The court also observed that the petitioners did not approach any court after it was taken up for trial in 2004.
Justice S S Sateeshchandran, in a 62-page judgment, also asked the Vigilance and Anti-
Corruption Bureau (VACB) court, Thrissur, to take steps to speed up the trial.
The state imported 15,000 tonnes of palmolein oil through the Malaysia-based Power and Energy Limited in 1991-92. The government reportedly lost Rs23.2mn in the deal which violated the guidelines of the State Trading Corporation.
The high-profile defendants in the case include the late chief minister K Karunakaran, his food minister T H Musthafa, former Central Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas and Commonwealth Games Director General Jiji Thomson.
The high court observed that Chandy’s role was investigated two times and no evidence was found to link him to the case. The final report was submitted to the VACB court on January 7, 2012.
“Even a schoolchild will find it hard to understand why the former finance minister was exonerated when one of India’s honest officers, P J Thomas, stands accused. So I moved the court,” said Kannamthanam, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Chandy’s role came under the scanner three months after he came to power in 2011 when the Special Court here rejected the VACB report absolving him and ordered a fresh probe into his role. Chandy had then offered to resign but his colleagues and eminent jurists prevailed upon him to stay.
The judge, P K Haneefa, excused himself from the case which was shifted to the VACB Special Court in Thrissur.