‘Officials abused power to aid Thomas Chandy’

Says thorough probe needed to unearth facts of case

A few government staff, according to the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB), abused their official powers and aided the illegal construction of a road to the resort owned by former Minister and incumbent Kuttanad MLA Thomas Chandy in Alappuzha.

Hari Vidyadharan, Deputy Superintendent of Police, VACB Special Investigation Unit, Thiruvananthapuram, submitted an affidavit in this regard before the Kerala High Court on Tuesday.

The official conceded in the affidavit that Betty Chandy, daughter of Mr. Chandy, who was arraigned as an accused in the case, was not actively involved in the affairs of the company and his son, Toby Chandy, was not a director of the company during the time of the commission of the offence. The children of Mr. Chandy had approached the court seeking to quash the cases registered against them.

According to the VACB, the road, constructed using public money violating the existing laws under the guise of public interest, helped the Water World Tourism Company gain pecuniary advantage at the expense of the government, the official submitted.

The case is that Mr. Chandy conspired with a few government officials, including the District Collectors of Alappuzha, and reclaimed paddy field in violation of the Kerala Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008 and constructed a road from Valiyakumal to Zero Jetty through the privately owned paddy field in Karuveli Padasekharam in Alappuzha municipality. This was done for obtaining road access to the Lake Palace Resort operated by the company by utilising ₹25 lakh from the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme, the agency submitted.

The road was tarred up to the entrance of the resort using ₹28.5 lakh from the Fisheries Department thereby obtaining pecuniary advantage for the tourism company. The accused committed various offences punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act, Indian Penal Code and the wetland Act, the agency submitted.

Initial stages

The VACB official also submitted that the investigation in the case was in the primary stages and a thorough investigation was required to unearth the entire facts of the case, including the nexus between the public servants and the stakeholders of the company.

Several important documents have to be collected and crucial witnessed examined, the official submitted.