An anti-corruption court here on Thursday ordered that Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, Public Works Minister V.K. Ebrahim Kunju and two others be investigated in connection with the alleged corruption in the setting up of an effluent treatment plant at the State-owned Travancore Titanium Products (TTP) during the tenure of the previous United Democratic Front (UDF) government.
The development has potential political implications for the present government as it could give rise to the question whether there was any conflict of interest between the posts the senior politicians currently held and the impending criminal inquiry against them.
Notably, Mr. Chennithala controlled the Vigilance portfolio.
In his brief order, Vigilance Inquiry Commissioner and Special Judge John K. Illikadan directed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to register a First Information Report (FIR) and investigate the allegations raised by S. Jayan, a public interest litigant. Since Mr. Jayan had named the politicians as respondents in the case, it entailed that they would be named in the FIR and investigated.
The complainant had also named then Principal Secretary of Industries T. Balakrishnan, and former managing director of TTP Eapen Joseph as the other respondents in the case.
