The Kerala Vigilance is unlikely to file a chargesheet against Finance Minister KM Mani of the Kerala Congress (M) in the sensational bar bribery case despite the fact that the investigating officer’s factual report had claimed that there were enough evidences to conclude that Mani could have taken bribe from the State’s bar owners.
Additional DGP (Vigilance) Sheikh Darvesh, who studied the report submitted by the investigating officer, Superintendent of Police R Sukesan, reported to the Vigilance Director that there was no need of a chargesheet against Mani, the senior-most Minister in the Congress-led UDF Government.
The ADGP’s report is based on the legal advice he had got that a case against Mani was not maintainable on the basis of the evidences collected by the probe team. He concluded that there was no evidence to establish that Mani had demanded bribe or he had taken it.
Also, he said in the report that probe team had not been able to recover the alleged bribe money.
Vigilance sources said director Vinson M Paul was unlikely to make a recommendation that would go against the report of the ADGP. A final report citing absence of evidence to proceed against Mani and suggesting winding up of the probe could be soon submitted to the Special Vigilance Court in Thiruvananthapuram.
Whistleblower Biju Ramesh, a bar owner who had levelled the charge of bribery against Mani, said the Vigilance report proved that the case against the Minister had been sabotaged as a result of conspiracy at Government level. He said he would continue the legal battle against Mani, adding that he would seek a probe by an agency which the Government could not influence. .
Observers said the developments in the bar bribery case seemed to have progressed as per a script written by the UDF Government for which a chargesheet against Mani could have been a huge embarrassment, especially in the context of the crucial Assembly by-election to be held in Aruvikkara in Thiruvananthapuram district on June 27.
“It is clear that the Government wanted the case to come to this situation,” alleged a pro-left lawyer of the Kerala High Court. “Chief Minister Chandy cannot allow the Vigilance to submit a chargesheet against Mani because of his dependence on him and his party for the survival of his Government. But I am certain that it is not yet time to declare Mani innocent,” he added.
The Vigilance had on December 10 initiated a proper probe against Mani by registering an FIR in which he was named as accused after a “quick verification” of the bribery charge against him found prima facie evidences to support the allegation. Mani thus became the first serving Minister in Kerala’s history to be named as accused in a bribery case.
The Vigilance had started its proceedings against Mani after Biju Ramesh, working president of the Kerala Bar Hotels’ Association, alleged on October 31 last that the Finance and law Minister had demanded Rs 5 crore from bar owners and had taken Rs 1 crore of it promising to help them get the licences renewed for their bars which were closed for want of required facilities.
Biju Ramesh’s driver Ambili had told the investigators that it was he who had taken the association’s office-bearers to Mani’s official residence on April 2, 2014, to hand over a part of the bribe money to him. He had also claimed that he had seen money being handed over to Mani.