The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Wednesday informed the Kerala High Court that a detailed investigation based on scientific evidence was to be carried out into the bar licence renewal bribery case registered against former Finance Minister K.M. Mani.
The VACB made the submission before Justice B. Kemal Pasha when a petition filed by Mr. Mani challenging the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Court order allowing the VACB to conduct a further probe into the case came up.
The Vigilance charge was that Mr. Mani had abused his position as Finance Minister and committed criminal misconduct by demanding Rs.5 crore as illegal gratification to facilitate the renewal of bar licences and obtaining Rs.1 crore from the office-bearers of the Kerala Bar Hotels’ Association during the period from March 20, 2014 to April 03, 2014.
In a statement, Najumul Hussan. A.L, Deputy Superintendent of Police, VACB, Special Investigation Unit-1, Thiruvananthapuram, said the investigation in the case was continuing by seizing documents from various departments.
It said that though an investigation in the case was conducted by questioning relevant witnesses, collecting and analysing the documents, and by seeking opinion of experts, the final report filed before the Vigilance court sought to close the case as “Further Action Dropped.”
However, the court did not take any action on the report. In the meantime, former investigation officer in the case and Superintendent of Police R. Sukesan filed a petition seeking to proceed with the investigation.
The former Finance Minister alleged that the plea for a further investigation had been allowed without looking into whether any fresh materials against the petitioner had emerged or not. In fact, the petition seeking further investigation was filed with the mala fide intention to harass the petitioner by “frivolous and vexatious prosecutions.”
The investigating agency could not conduct a further investigation in a case in which it had filed a final report earlier saying no offence had been made out. The investigating agency could not conduct a further investigation in a case in which it had filed a final report.
The court adjourned to October 6 for further hearing on Mr. Mani’s petition.
