The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Tuesday booked five Travancore Titanium Products (TTP) officials on the suspicion of corruption in the setting up of an effluent treatment plant at the public sector industrial unit.
In a First Information Report (FIR) filed in the court of the Vigilance Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge here, the VACB named the accused as former managing director Eapen Joseph, chief manager Santosh Kumar, executive director A.M. Bhaskaran, former chief manager Thomas Mathew, and former chief commercial manager Gopakumar Nair.
Expensive machinery
The allegation was that the accused had conspired together to appoint M/s. MECON, Ranchi, as consultant, causing undue pecuniary advantage to the private firm and consequent loss to the public sector entity.
No global tender was invited for the construction of the effluent treatment plant. The accused had allegedly colluded with other persons and tried to set up expensive machinery with an intention to make an unlawful gain for the private company.
The supply contract was awarded to the consultant company. The loss to the government was estimated at Rs. 258 crore.
The graft case acquired a political dimension in August last after the Vigilance and Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, John. K. Illikadan, ordered the VACB to register a First Information Report and investigate a complaint filed by one S. Jayan, the main petitioner in the graft case.
The judge, in his brief order, had not said that any one be named or not named in the FIR.
However, it so chanced that the petitioner had named Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, Industries Minister V.K. Ebrahim Kunju, then Principal Secretary of Industries T. Balakrishnan and former managing director Eapen Joseph as main respondents in the case.
Hence, one of the many and hitherto undecided legal points of view in the case was that the VACB would have to name them in the FIR to proceed further.
The High Court subsequently stayed the order. However, the Opposition had raised the question whether or not there would be a conflict of interest, between the public offices the politicians held and the temporarily suspended graft investigation pending against them in the anti-corruption court here.