Keep Sukeshan out of inquiry team: Reddy

Director General of Police (DGP) N. Sankar Reddy has demanded that the preliminary inquiry against him on a private complaint regarding his controversial promotion and appointment as Director, Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB), during the tenure of the previous United Democratic Front (UDF) government be not handed over to a specific unit.

In a communique to VACB Director Jacob Thomas last week, Mr. Reddy has specifically demanded that the agency’s Special Intelligence Unit I be kept away from the impending probe.

He feared that R. Sukeshan, Superintendent of Police, and the former Investigating Officer (IO) in the bar licence renewal bribery case who headed the unit, could be prejudiced against him.

As Vigilance chief, Mr. Reddy had “found” that Mr. Sukeshan had “colluded” with petitioner Biju Ramesh to falsely implicate former Finance Minister K.M. Mani in the bar case. Mr. Reddy had also recommended a Crime Branch inquiry against Mr. Sukeshan. He had also as Director challenged the veracity of the evidence gathered by Mr. Sukeshan and his team in the bar case.

The charge

Last week, the VACB had filed a report in court debunking the allegation that Mr. Reddy and Mr. Sukeshan had connived to absolve Mr. Mani in the politically controversial bar case. The court was yet decide whether to accept or reject the report. The complainant has been asked to file his objections, if any, on February 7.

The VACB has opened a precursory inquiry into the sensational complaint that the UDF government had “ignored the objections” raised by Principal Accountant General and Additional Chief Secretaries of Home and Finance Departments to appoint Mr. Sankar Reddy as Director, Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB), in November last.

The complainant Paichira Nawaz had alleged that Mr. Reddy’s posting “overlooking seniority was to torpedo the bar bribery case and other cases against senior leaders of the (then) ruling party”.

Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, former Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, former Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson and Additional Chief Secretary Tom Jose are the respondents in the case along with Mr. Reddy.