Court jolt for Kerala govt: There’s proof against KM Mani

READ: Further probe into bar bribery case: double trouble for Congress in Kerala

But while Mani rejected calls to quit, saying the order was “normal procedure”, VACB chief Vinson M Paul said he was resigning from his position because it was “improper” to continue after the court’s decision.

Paul had overruled the findings of the investigating officer in the case and decided not to file a chargesheet against Mani, saying there was not enough evidence against the chairman of Kerala Congress (M), a regional Christian-dominated party.

READ: Kerala: Oommen Chandy defends K M Mani in bar bribery case

Mani has received support from Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and his Cabinet colleagues, and the government is planning to go for an appeal in the high court.

But Congress state chief V M Sudheeran, who has been known to take a hard line on corruption, struck a discordant note by saying that “an appropriate decision would be taken after deliberations”.

Meanwhile, VACB director Paul said after announcing his resignation that he had acted in the case “as per law” and in an “objective” manner. ”I want to ensure transparency in the functioning of the VACB and keep the morale of the department up. It would be improper to continue as director,’’ Paul said, adding that he was going on leave for a month.

In a further twist, the VACB’s former additional director, Jacob Thomas, who was removed from a supervisory role in the bar bribery case under controversial circumstances early this year, welcomed the court verdict.

”Truth has won and people want to see that truth emerges the final winner. There was substance in the allegation and hence the vigilance probed it,’’ said Thomas.

The bar bribery scandal surfaced last November after the state’s bar hotel owners’ association chief Biju Ramesh alleged that Mani had taken a bribe of Rs 1 crore from them to renew liquor licences of 418 bars that were originally identified as sub-standard.

Following the allegation, CPI(M) leader V S Achuthanandan had sent a complaint to the VACB, seeking a probe against Mani — this led to an FIR being registered.

The investigating officer in the case, R Sukesan, subsequently submitted a probe report stating that there was “enough oral, documentary and scientific” evidence to file a charge sheet against Mani on charges that he had collected money from bar owners at his home in Pala and at his official residence in Thiruvananthapuram last year.

But while Mani rejected the allegations, seven members of the association told investigating officers that they had met Mani at his home on March 22, 2014. The call records of Mani’s mobile phone also indicated that he was in Pala on that day.

However, the Vigilance department’s legal advisor examined the probe report and opined that with the evidence in hand, a case under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act would not stand — that view was endorsed by Paul.

Subsequently, the investigating officer submitted a report in court seeking its permission to close the case. Rejecting the report, Judge Illikkadan said that “the VACB director compelled the investigating officer to file a report before the court”.

The court said Sukesan should conduct further investigations, also covering the financial transactions of the bar hotel owners’ association. Besides, an audio CD purportedly containing conversations of Ramesh referring to the bribe, should be subjected to scientific examination, said the court.