A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday reserved its order on the petition filed by K.T. Jaleel, former Minister for Higher Education and Minority Welfare, seeking to quash the Lok Ayukta’s order finding him guilty of “abuse of power, favouritism, nepotism and violation of oath of office” and holding that he should step down as a Minister.
The Lok Ayukta’s order came on a complaint alleging that K.T. Adeeb, a relative of Mr. Jaleel, had been illegally appointed as general manager of the Kerala State Minorities Finance Development Corporation, on a deputation basis.
Lok Ayukta finding
The Lok Ayukta had found that that Mr. Jaleel’s decision to change the qualification for the post of general manager and add BTech with PGDBA as qualification for the post was to make his second cousin eligible for the post.
The Bench comprising Justice P.B. Suresh Kumar and Justice K. Babu reserved its order after hearing arguments on the petition. Though the counsel for the petitioner sought a stay on the Lok Ayukta’s order, the court did not pass any order.
Jaleel’s charge
Counsel for Mr. Jaleel argued that the Lok Ayukta should not have entertained the complaint as the issue related to prescription of qualification and appointment to a post in the Minorities Corporation which had been excluded from the purview of the investigation under the Lok Ayukta Act.
The Lok Ayukta had not followed any procedure mandated under the law. Nor any investigation as contemplated under the Act was undertaken, the counsel argued.
Counsel for the government submitted that the procedure adopted by the Lok Ayukta was improper and there was no investigation by the Lok Ayukta.
