The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Friday absolved Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) R. Sreelekha of any wrongdoing when she was State Transport Commissioner (STC) during the 2014-15 period.
The agency told Inquiry Commissioner and Special Judge A. Badharudeen that there was no evidence to indict her for criminal misconduct, abuse of official position or causing loss to the government as STC.
The judge also heard that there was no proof to prosecute Chief Secretary S.M. Vijayanand on suspicion that he had shielded Ms. Sreelekha from an anti-corruption inquiry recommended by ADGP Tomin J. Thachankary who succeeded her as STC.
The judge deferred his decision on the agency’s finding until February 1. He gave the complainant Paichira Nawaz 10 days to file objections, if any.
In her statement to the VACB, Ms. Sreelekha portrayed herself as a victim of “29 years of harassment” by Mr. Thachankary, her “batchmate and two ranks junior”. She alleged that Mr. Thachankary was the wellspring of false imputations against her.
Ms. Sreelekha had obtained an order to sue Mr. Thachankary for defamation but desisted from doing so because “he had apologised and promised never to harass her”.
She said Mr. Nawaz’s complaint mirrored most of the insinuations Mr. Thachankary had raised against her in his contentious internal report around which the entire controversy revolved.
Ms. Sreelekha told investigators that Mr. Thachankary had wrongly depicted audit objections as allegations of corruption. She had initiated the audit of the Kerala Road Safety Authority (KRSA) in the first place.
Her house abutted a public road and it was paved using KRSA funds with due municipal sanction. She had paid the government for extra use of the official phone and car.
