The State government is of the view that the activities of the Vizhinjam International Seaport Project cannot be “arbitrarily brought to an end considering the socio-economic benefits to be derived out of the project.”
The views of the government were made known before the High Court in an affidavit filed by P.T. Joy, the Under Secretary to the government, Fisheries and Ports Department, in a case filed by M.K. Salim of Kollam seeking a CBI probe into the agreement entered into between the State government and M/s Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones Limited for the implementation of the project. The petitioner had also highlighted the conclusions of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
The State government submitted that it had appointed a three-member commission to look into the reports of the CAG into the implementation of the Vizhinjam International Multipurpose Deepwater Seaport project. The government has also taken serious view of the CAG report and has requested the three-member panel to look into the report, the Sate submitted before the High Court.
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Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, in his affidavit stated that though the State government led by the LDF had decided and declared to proceed with the project, it may not be “presenting the actual affairs which culminated in the award of the project” before the High Court “due to political overtones.”
He submitted that “unless and until all the relevant materials are placed before the court, the court may be prevented from arriving at a just conclusion.”
The former Chief Minister said the present LDF Ministry “may not be interested in presenting the correct statement of facts before the court, since they want to take advantage of the situation created by the report of the CAG, which was actually framed not on correct set of facts and figures.”
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Mr. Chandy submitted that the “CAG report is itself flawed in as much as the observations therein are solely on the basis of the report of the Principal Accountant General (PAG). The PAG report was prepared in total non-compliance of the audit guidelines and bad for serious procedural lapses and impropriety occurred in the audit process,” he submitted.