Inquiry Commissioner and Special Judge S. Jagadees on Wednesday posted for January 25 hearing in the palmolein import case in which Central Vigilance Commissioner P.J. Thomas is an accused.
When the case came up before the Vigilance court here, the Legal Adviser to the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau stated that the Supreme Court had vacated the stay granted by it on further proceedings by the lower court on an appeal filed by K. Karunakaran in 2007. The court was informed that “we have only news in this regard and the official communication in this regard from the Supreme Court is awaited.”
“Papers with court”
The legal adviser said the documents were with the Supreme Court and that the first accused in the case, Karunakaran, had passed away on December 23. The prosecution sought two weeks' adjournment to file the death certificate and report. The judge then adjourned the case.
The case relates to the loss to the exchequer of nearly Rs. 2.32 crore allegedly caused by the import of palmolein in 1991-92 when Karunakaran was the Chief Minister and Mr. Thomas the Food Secretary and member of the Board of the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation. Mr. Thomas is the eighth accused in the charge sheet filed by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau in 2003.
According to the charge sheet filed under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code, the accused caused loss to the exchequer by importing palmolein at exorbitant rates through a Singapore-based firm. It alleged that the agreement to import 15,000 tonnes from P&E Ltd. was taken after a meeting Karunakaran had with the representatives of the firm and its Indian representative, Mala Trading Corporation, in New Delhi in 1991.
