A Vigilance court in Kerala has ordered a quick verification against former chief minister Oommen Chandy and former Revenue minister Adoor Prakash, both of the Congress party, in relation to the decision of the former Cabinet to allot more than 700 acres of Government surplus land in the Elappara and Peerumed villages to Kolkata-registered Hope Plantations.
The Special Vigilance Court in Muvattupuzha, Ernakulam district issued the order for quick verification against six persons including Chandy and Prakash on a complaint lodged by a private individual, Girish Babu from Kalamassery near Kochi, alleging corruption in the decision taken by the former UDF government headed by Chandy at the fag-end of its tenure for gifting the land to the company.
Observing that the decision to hand over the land to the company seemed mysterious, the court directed the Ernakulam cell of the Vigilance to examine the intention behind the hasty decision taken by the then Cabinet, whether the decision was taken after consulting with the Department of law and whether there was corruption behind the decision.