The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) was on Thursday at a loss to explain in open court why it had not yet initiated a criminal investigation in the Pattoor land grab case.
The bench, presided over by Inquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, VACB, A. Baharudeen, was considering a private plea to prosecute former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, former Chief Secretary Bharath Bhushan, and a private realtor, among others, on the suspicion of having connived to appropriate prime public land to build a high-rise in the upmarket locality.
The judge did not appear impressed by Additional Legal Advisor, VACB, Biju Manohar’s statement that a preliminary inquiry was on into the suspected scam on the basis of a Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report.
He asked the agency whether the Advocate General’s studied opinion that it was a fit case for registering a First Information Report (FIR) had no traction in the agency.
The court also accorded little merit to the VACB’s argument that the documents in the case were not in its possession as the Lok Ayukta was considering the matter.
S. Chandrasekharan Nair, counsel for Administrative Reforms Commission chairman V.S. Achuthanandan, the de-facto complainant in the case, pointed out that the documents pertaining to the case were in the court’s custody.
He said the VACB itself had submitted them in 2015. Mr. Nair also countered the agency’s contention that it could not conduct a parallel inquiry. The judge immediately summoned DySP G.L. Ajith Kumar, the investigating officer in the case. Mr. Kumar accepted certified copies of the documents from Mr. Nair and issued receipts for them. The court gave Mr. Kumar 15 days’ time to submit his inquiry report.
The crux of Mr. Achuthanandan’s complaint was that the suspects had overstepped their constitutional bounds and changed the orientation of a 1964 sewage main that bifurcated the realtor’s property in order to enable him to profitably develop the land and also slyly add 17 cents of government land to his project.
