The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) apparently received preliminary legal opinion on Thursday on whether or not to prosecute Finance Minister K.M. Mani in the bar licence renewal bribery case.
The development triggered intense speculation in the electronic media.
The predominant take on the controversial issue was that legal adviser C.C. Augustine had counselled the VACB that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Mr. Mani.
Senior VACB officials said that Mr. Augustine had visited the Vigilance headquarters.
But they refused to dwell on the purpose of his visit.
‘Scarce’ evidence
Prosecutors’ privy to the process of legal scrutiny said the view that there was “scarce” evidence that Mr. Mani had demanded bribe had gained traction.
“Such a view could potentially weigh in favour of the Finance Minister,” they said.
Moreover, the Kerala Bar Hotels’ Association (KBHA), the entity involved in the pay off scandal, had not received any tangible reciprocal favour from the Minister.
Association president Raj Kumar Unni had strongly refuted the allegation that he had bribed the Finance Minister. However, there was evidence that association members had periodically pooled money to ostensibly influence the government policy in favour of their businesses.
SC ruling
The Supreme Court, in its ruling in a payoff scandal involving “hawala brokers” and top politicians in the early 1990s, had ruled that mere entries in diaries or personal books of acount were not sufficient evidence to indict graft case suspects.
Officials said that Mr. Augustine’s opinion was the first of several more legal views the Vigilance would seek in the coming days.
Sense of finality
Hence, it could be too early for Mr. Mani to feel a sense of finality in the case.
The payoff scandal has plagued the government since February and revealed the political fault lines within the ruling front.
Prosecutors said the view that there was “scarce” evidence that the Finance Minister had demanded bribe had gained traction
