The Kerala High Court on Wednesday extended till December 17 its stay on the CBI investigation against the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of LIFE Mission in connection with the irregularities in the implementation of the LIFE Mission housing project at Wadakkanchery in Thrissur.
The stay had come on the petitions filed by LIFE Mission CEO U.V. Jose and Santhosh Eappen, MD, Unitac, seeking to quash the FIR registered by the CBI against them.
The CBI in its petition sought to vacate the stay. When it came up for hearing, the counsel for CBI submitted that what the investigation so far unearthed was only tip of the iceberg. The investigation agency wanted to go ahead with its probe to unravel the whole conspiracy behind the alleged violations of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) and other offences in the project.
The entire investigation had come to a standstill due to the stay order. The hands of the investigating officer were fully tied. When the CBI counsel pleaded for lifting the stay and posting the petitions for final hearing, Justice P. Somarajan asked why the CBI took two months to file the petition seeking to vacate the stay order.
Counsel for the LIFE Mission pointed out that the CBI was yet to file an affidavit in response to the petitions challenging the CBI probe.
