Jacob Thomas told to file statement in Pattoor case

IMG Director Jacob Thomas

The Kerala High Court on Monday asked Jacob Thomas, former Vigilance Director and now Director of the Institute of Management in Government (IMG), to file a statement explaining his stance on the genuineness of the settlement registers of the controversial land at Pattoor in Thiruvananthapuram.

The court issued the order when he appeared in person in response to a court directive to clarify a report given to the Lok Ayukta regarding the settlement registers of the land when he was the Vigilance Director.

Doubts

In a report filed before the Lok Ayukta, Mr. Thomas had expressed doubts about the genuineness of certain pages of the land registers. Mr. Thomas told the court that he had filed the report based on 37 documents provided by the revenue authorities concerned.

The court declined to accept a report which Mr. Thomas sought to hand over, saying that when government officers filed documents before the court, they should consult the State law officers.

The court directed him to hand over the report to the Additional Director General of Prosecution.

The order was passed on a petition filed by the builders seeking to quash an FIR registered by the Vigilance in the Pattoor land scam.