Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday welcomed the High Court verdict striking down a Vigilance court order related to promotions of four ADGPs as DGPs, but expressed the hope that the same Bench would issue guidelines on processing petitions that come up before the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB).
Terming the High Court verdict as a landmark one, while replying to three-day debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address, Mr. Vijayan agreed with Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala’s assessment about the outcome of the verdict as it had a bearing on the Cabinet and its decisions.
Highlighting the kind of fix that the VACB faced, Mr. Vijayan said the question before the bureau was whether it should act on the numerous petitions it received as some people seem to have taken birth to file complaints. It has run into trouble for not probing certain petitions attracting intervention by the Vigilance courts. “There is a need for streamlining the procedures. It would be helpful for us if the same Bench of the High Court were to issue the necessary guidelines related to this,” he said
Responding to the allegation about a rift between civil servants and the State administration, Mr. Vijayan said the apprehensions of the IAS officials had been cleared through discussions. There was no disconnect between the officers and the administration. But a section of the Secretariat employees had some reservations about the Kerala Administrative Service (KAS). The same section had earlier supported the UDF government’s move to establish the KAS.
He also denied the Opposition charge that the State administration had come to a standstill. The government had done all it could as a result of which the cashew, coir, handloom, and fisheries sectors were now on the path of revival. The cooperative sector had to face certain hiccups following demonetisation of high-value currencies. The difficulties were overcome jointly with the cooperation of all, including the Opposition. The next stage would witness more happenings, he said.
