4 min readThiruvananthapuramUpdated: Jul 31, 2026 02:59 AM IST
The Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) has dropped its probe against Chief Minister V D Satheesan in connection with allegations he collected money from abroad in violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) for a 2018 flood rehabilitation project.
Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said the VACB has wound up its probe as there is no evidence against Satheesan.
“The VACB has taken the decision to close the case that the previous LDF government had registered against him. The allegation was that he had travelled to the UK and raised funds for the project (called Punarjani, which was conceived to rehabilitate flood-affected people in Satheesan’s constituency, Paravur),” he said.
“The probe has found that the funds were handled by the Manappat Foundation (the corporate social responsibility wing of the Dubai-based Manappat Group) and their FCRA account. The probe has revealed that Satheesan played no role in it. There is no evidence against him. Hence, the case registered against Satheesan, under section 7 (a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, was dropped,” Chennithala added.
He said the previous CPI(M) government’s decision to hand over the case to the CBI was politically motivated. “After that, the VACB director had examined the files and recommended that the matter should not be taken ahead. This clean chit to Satheesan is not because of the change in the government,” the Home Minister said.
The VACB probe started in 2023, while Satheesan was serving as the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. Earlier this year, the VACB, under then chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, had recommended a CBI probe. The recommendation was dubbed politically motivated by the Congress as the move came a few months ahead of the state elections. The CPI(M) had mounted a sustained attack on Satheesan as he had led the Opposition UDF in the elections. The CPI(M) had at the time pointed out that the Congress government, in its final lap in 2006, ordered the CBI probe the SNC Lavalin case, in which Vijayan had figured as an alleged accused.
What is the Punarjani project?
Following the 2018 Kerala floods, Satheesan had conceived a project called Punarjani, aimed at rehabilitating victims in his constituency Paravur. The Manappat Foundation was a facilitator. During Satheesan’s visits to various countries to mobilise funds, a video from Birmingham in the United Kingdom emerged, purportedly showing Satheesan soliciting donations for the project to be implemented by Manappat Foundation.
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The issue was first raised in the Assembly in 2018 by then CPI(M) legislator James Mathew. In 2020, Jaison Panikulangara, a member of Nitta Gelatin Action Council at Chalakudy, had moved the Kerala High Court seeking a probe into Satheesan allegedly mobilising funds from abroad for Punarjani in violation of the FCRA. The Nitta Gelatin Action Council had been formed in 2008 to protest wastewater dumping in the Chalakudy river.
Prior to that, Panikulangara had approached the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) with the same plea, but the agencies did not act on it. The High Court rejected the petition in 2020, pointing out that the complainant could not produce any documentary evidence to substantiate the alleged crime, other than a video clipping in which Satheesan can be purportedly seen soliciting donations for the project. The court had then noted that the complainant had already petitioned the VACB and was awaiting action.
It was only in 2023 that the government ordered the VACB probe into Satheesan based on the complaint from Panikulangara. The probe order came at a time when the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) had targeted then CM Pinarayi Vijayan for soliciting sponsorships from expatriates in the United States for a regional meeting of the Loka Kerala Sabha, a conference of non-resident Keralites. In May 2024, the ED initiated its probe into Satheesan based on Panikulangara’s complaint.
