: The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Saturday gave a reprieve to Finance Minister K.M.. Mani in the bar licence renewal bribery case. Vinson M. Paul, VACB Director, has concluded that there is scarce evidence to prosecute him.
The decision, which came against the backdrop of the Aruvikkara Assembly by-election, was a long-sought victory for the ruling front.
The verdict was the culmination of weeks of consultations with the Attorney General and Solicitor General of India and two former Supreme Court lawyers who held the same posts earlier.
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The Director had ventured beyond the functional boundary of the Vigilance manual that governs him to seek the opinion of outside constitutional entities to ensure fairness of the legal procedure. Going solely by the legal opinion of Advocate General K. P. Dandapani and Additional Director of Prosecution, Vigilance, G. Saseendran, both State government appointees, would have drawn criticism.
The crux of the legal opinion Mr. Vinson received lately varied little from that given earlier by Mr. Sasindran. Central to the opinion was the view that there was scarce evidence that Mr. Mani had demanded or accepted bribe. The Kerala Bar Hotel Association (KBHA) the alleged bribe giver, had received no tangible benefit in reciprocation. No bribe amount was recovered. The KBHA member who purportedly made the pay-off had refuted the allegation. (Pointedly, he had also refused to be given a lie detector test).
The association’s books of account, which showed that its members periodically pooled money to ostensibly influence government policy in their favour, were no evidence in themselves. Hence, any attempt to indict Mr. Mani for corruption would not stand legal scrutiny. However, it is too early for Mr. Mani to feel a sense of finality in the case. The Vigilance closure report would be legally challenged. It would also fuel the demand for a CBI inquiry.
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