Kerala court seeks strict laws to curb rising fraud

By Ashraf Padanna/Kochi

The Kerala High Court has asked the government to frame stricter laws to stop the increasing number of investment frauds in different parts of the state as existing laws had failed.

The court said mischief and fraud had become so rampant and large-scale in the state that the time has come to have a separate legislation with penal provisions to deal with those who defraud the innocent public with false representation.

The court made the observation while turning down a bail plea filed by television actress Shalu Menon, held in a similar cheating case known as ‘solar scam’ offering investment options in fake solar and wind energy projects.

Menon, a former member of the Central Board of Film Certification, has been lodged in the women’s prison in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram, since her arrest earlier this month along with Saritha S Nair who is the second defendant.

The judge, S S Sateeshchandran, however, granted her bail in a case related to harbouring the kingpin, Biju Radhakrishnan. After examining the case diary, the court found that large-scale cheating and fraud had taken place and the case reflects the ineffectiveness of penal provisions.

“It is high time to enact a special legislation to deal with fraud offences,” the court observed. “Many of the provisions in the existing law are outdated and an effective law has to be brought out”.

The court observed that Menon had close association with the first defendant and directly received monetary favours.

The investigation reveals the two had mutually agreed to get married, the court pointed out.

The actress had recently constructed a palatial residence and even works department officials found it difficult to evaluate internal furnishings as most of these were imported.

The actress was arrested on a complaint by one Rafique Ali, a non-resident Keralite who claimed that she had accompanied Radhakrishnan when he collected over Rs7mn from him.

The director general of prosecutions, T Asif Ali, informed the court that there was “ample evidence” to show Menon’s involvement in the case and that she had received Rs4.6mn besides expensive gifts.

Meanwhile, Saritha Nair has alleged that there were attempts to link her name to some important people and she face threats to her life from Radhakrishnan, who is facing murder charges over the death of his wife, and Menon.

Nair also claimed she was also a victim of cheating by Radhakrishnan and Menon. She sought protection for her and her family.