Kerala: CM relief fund ‘misuse’ case goes to full Lokayukta bench

The Lokayukta order said:  “As there is difference of opinion between us on the basic issue whether the action of respondents (Vijayan and his Cabinet colleagues from 2016 to 2021) in taking the impugned decisions as members of the Cabinet can be subjected to investigation under the provisions of the Kerala Lokayukta Act, and on the merits of the allegations, we are constrained to place this complaint for investigation by the Lokayukta and both the Upa Lokayuktas as  per section 7(1) of the Kerala Lok Ayukta Act.’’

A final verdict in the case is much awaited in the state’s political circles as the anti-corruption body had completed its hearing in March last year and the verdict was reserved. Last week, petitioner R S Sasikumar moved the high court alleging that the delay in the verdict was “intriguing and a denial of natural justice”.

It was in 2018 that Sasikumar, a former Syndicate member of Kerala University, complained against Vijayan and his then 17 Cabinet colleagues in the government with regard to the misuse of CMDRF. At present, only Vijayan remains in office among the respondents.

The crux of the petition was that the government had allegedly allotted Rs 25 lakh to the family of the NCP leader late Uzhavoor Vijayan. It was also alleged that the family of the late CPI(M) legislator Ramachandran Nair was given Rs 8.5 lakh from the CMDRF towards the cost of repaying a gold loan and vehicle loan and that Nair’s son was given a job with the state electricity board. In another alleged violation, Rs 20 lakh was given to the wife of a civil police officer who died in an accident while on escort duty for Kodiyeri Balakrishnan who was the CPI(M) state secretary then.