The Kerala High Court on Wednesday slammed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB ) for filing two statements, one through a special prosecutor, and another through the senior government pleader in response to former Finance Minister K.M. Mani's petition against the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Court order for a further probe into the bar bribery case.
When the petition came up for hearing, K.P. Satheesan, lawyer, claimed that he had been appointed as special public prosecutor for conducting the case before the High Court. However, it was questioned by the counsel for Mr. Mani on the ground that the appointment of a special public prosecutor for conducting cases in the High Court could be made only under the Section 24(1) of Criminal Procedure Code and that too after consultation with the High Court.
The court then said that the matter required examination as to whether the appointment of special public prosecutor was in accordance with the procedure prescribed under the law and whether such appointment was possible at the very preliminary stage of investigation.
The court further observed that whether there was a special prosecutor or not, the important question was how two statements happened to be filed by the same investigation officer through two different counsel. The court added that “such games cannot be allowed here.”
As an investigation officer, he must be honest, sincere and responsible. After having signed a statement on March 1, 2017, he should necessarily have informed the public prosecutor (senior government pleader) about filing of such a statement when he signed a second one on March 6, 2017. “This sort of irresponsible procedure cannot be allowed.”
The court directed the investigation officer to appear in person before the court on March 27 to explain the circumstances under which the two statements were filed and state who instructed or directed him to file the two statements.
The court also directed the State government to file a report regarding its definite stand on the appointment of the special public prosecutor.
