A special court here on Tuesday granted the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) time till February 17 to complete its ongoing preliminary inquiry against Cashew Industry Minister J. Mercykutty.
The agency told the court that it was examining the Minister and a few other officials on the suspicion of corruption in a high-level decision connected to the import of 5,900 tonnes of raw nuts for labour-intensive cashew processing worksheds in the public sector.
G. Saseendran, former Additional Director (Prosecution), VACB, who represented the complainant P. Rahim, requested Inquiry Commissioner and Special Judge A. Baharudeen to monitor the inquiry process given the official rank and political clout of the respondents. The judge has reserved his stance on the plea.
Mr. Rahim’s complaint centred on the decision of two high-level meetings chaired by the Minister in her chamber on June 22 and July 2 wherein it was “decided to change the tender conditions” for importing cashew to provide employment to 15,000 cashew workers in the run-up to Onam.
He alleged that the percentage of defective nuts in the consignments was changed to favour suppliers. Vendors with expired sales tax registration were allowed to participate in the bidding. Mr. Rahim alleged that the actions of the government were aimed at excluding the lowest bidder citing “unspecified technical reasons”.
He stated that respondents had also allowed cartel formation by allowing three bidders to agree on a higher than market price for raw cashew. They also excluded other competitors from entering the fray. The competitors for the lucrative tender were close business associates and relatives, Mr. Rahim alleged.
Mr. Saseendran told the court that the alleged corruption, pegged at Rs 10.14 crore, was facilitated under the pretext that KSCDC and Capex tenders for raw material under the existing conditions did not elicit a favourable response from suppliers.
The Minister’s husband and trade unionist Thulasidharan Nair and KSCDC Managing Director T. F. Xaviour are also respondents in the case.