Extraordinary constitutional authority is functioning in CMO, accused IPS officer tells Kerala HC

Lakshman, who is facing the charges under Sections 468 (forgery), 471 (using a forged document as genuine), 420 (cheating), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) read with Section 34 of the IPC, had last month obtained a pre-arrest bail from the High Court in the case.

Last week, Lakshman had moved a criminal miscellaneous petition in the court seeking that the proceedings against him be quashed.

The bench of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan, which has not admitted the petition, has posted the matter to August 17 with a direction to the public prosecutor to get instructions from the government.

In his petition moved through advocate Noble Mathew, the senior IPS officer said he was falsely implicated in the cheating case as the third accused after obtaining a statement from a person under section 164 of the CrPC.

“It is submitted that during the initial stage of the Monson case, the victims of his financial fraud had filed a petition before the chief minister. In that petition also, the petitioner’s (Lakshman) name was not mentioned. It appears that in the office of the chief minister, an extraordinary constitutional authority is functioning and he is dealing with, compromising, mediating and arbitrating some of the financial dealings in the state of Kerala. Even disputes sent by this court (high court) to various arbitrators were resolved by that authority. That invisible hand and extra constitutional brain is operating behind the curtain and commanding the second respondent (the crime branch DySP) for doing this kind of illegal activities,’’ Lakshman alleged in the petition.

The IG said by any stretch of imagination, he is not in a position to discern the rationale behind arraigning him as an accused without any incriminating materials. In the earlier statements of the alleged victims of cheating and in the petitions before the Chief Minister also, Lakshman said he was not in the picture.

Lakshman pointed out that a special investigation team headed by the Additional Director-General of Police, which probed the case registered in 2021, had submitted an affidavit in the High Court stating that no senior police officer is involved in the Monson cheating case.

Early last month, the Crime Branch had listed Congress state president K Sudhakaran, IG Lakshman and retired DIG S Surendran as co-accused in one of the cheating cases registered against Monson in 2021. Complainant Yakook Purayil and others had alleged that Monson had pocketed Rs 10 crore from him and other investors showing the forged statements of HSBC Bank, during a period from 2017 to 2019. Monson had allegedly tricked the investors to believe that he had got Rs 2.62 lakh crores from the antique business and was in need of money to clear legal hurdles to get the amount transferred from HSBC bank to his bank account in Kerala. Monson had told the complainants (investors) that Sudhakaran would intervene to clear the legal obstacles in transferring the money from the Middle East to Kerala.

Subsequently, all the three co-accused had moved the high court, which granted them pre-arrest bail as an interim relief, in separate orders. Later, the crime branch summoned Sudhakaran and Surendran on different occasions and recorded their arrest. They were released on bail as per the high court order on furnishing a bond of Rs 50,000, with two solvent sureties.

The crime branch had also served a notice on Lakshman asking him to appear before the investigating officer in Kochi on July 31.

IG Lakshman was suspended in November 2021 following an expose of his alleged links with Monson. He was reinstated in service in February 2023.

Monson was arrested in 2021 over a dozen financial fraud cases. Last month, a POCSO court in Ernakulam sentenced him to life imprisonment in a rape case.