The Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) has given a clean chit to CPI(M) central committee member EP Jayarajan in a sensational nepotism case relating to the appointment of a close relative in a PSU when he was Industries Minister even as a court suo moto initiated a case against NCP leader AK Saseendran who had resigned as Transport Minister over the scandal relating to a honey-trap sting operation against him by a TV channel.
The VACB has informed the Kerala High Court that the case it had earlier registered against Jayarajan is not legally maintainable. The agency, coming under the Vigilance Department looked after CPI(M) Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, had earlier registered an FIR against him after it had come to the conclusion that the charge of nepotism against him could come under the purview of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
However, it has now adopted a position that the case may not come under the purview of the anti-corruption law as nobody had made any financial or material gains out of the controversial appointment.
The Vigilance submitted such a report before the court in response to an earlier query from it as to whether anybody had made any gain from the appointment.
Jayarajan was forced to resign as State Industries minister on October 14 last after he was accused of appointing Sudheer Nambiar, son of his sister-in-law PK Sreemathi, another central committee member of the CPI(M), as the managing director of Kerala Industrial Enterprises limited, a public sector unit that came under his department.
Acting on complaints, the Vigilance had registered an FIR against Jayarajan after a quick verification which had revealed that prima facie there was substance in the allegations against him. The agency had also found that Jayarajan had issued instructions to appoint Nambiar in the PSU though he allegedly did not have the required qualification.
Meanwhile, the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday suo moto initiated a case against AK Saseendran of the NCP, who had resigned as Transports minister on March 26, for allegedly behaving in an indecent manner with and insulting a woman employee of a TV channel whom it had reportedly used for a sting operation on him.
The court initiated the case against Saseendran as per non-bailable charges based on a petition filed by the woman employee of the channel. It issued notice to him asking him to appear before it on July 28. Saseendran had resigned as minister on March 26 after the TV channel aired an audio clip in which he was heard talking in sexually explicit terms with a woman.
The Mangalam TV channel had aired the controversial audio clip on the day of launch, March 26. Though channel CEO Ajith Kumar had in the initial stage claimed that Saseendran had spoken to a woman who had approached him with a complaint, he was later forced to admit that she was part of an eight-member sting operation team of the channel.
The Crime Branch of the Kerala Police had booked nine persons from the channel, including its CEO, chief reporter and the woman employee and had arrested five of them. The police had also held extensive searches at the channel’s office for the original recordings of the conversation between the former minister and the woman.
Terming the case initiated against him by the court as ‘natural’, Saseendran said he would get a good chance to explain his position because of this. “I had resigned from the Cabinet saying that I am ready to face any probe,” the NCP leader said.