A Bench also rejected request to file an FIR against Mani, chairman of Kerala Congress (M)
The High Court on Wednesday refused to intervene in the ongoing vigilance inquiry into the bar scam, pertaining to the allegation that Finance and law Minister KM Mani had taken `1-crore bribe from bar owners to help renew their licences.
Settling the petitions filed by CPI legislator VS Sunil Kumar and Vaikom Viswan, convener of the CPI(M)-led Opposition lDF, a division Bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice AM Shafique also rejected the request for registering an FIR against Mani, chairman of the Kerala Congress (M), third biggest constituent of the Congress-led ruling UDF.
The court said that the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) was currently holding ‘quick verification’ into the allegation against Mani and any decision should wait till the conclusion of that inquiry. At this stage, the request for a court-monitored investigation as made by Viswan and Sunil Kumar was premature, the court said.
The Bench said that the VACB director could take an independent decision on whether an FIR should be registered against Mani within one week of completion of the “quick verification”. The Advocate General said the probe report could be filed within a week. However, the court ruled that the report should not be handed over the Government.
The decision of the VACB director on whether to register an FIR against Mani or not should be on the basis of the information contained in the quick verification report, the court added. The Bench also made it clear that the director need not seek the Government’s opinion for this.
Court also ruled that ‘quick verification’ of the allegation could be permitted as per the earlier orders of the Supreme Court and that the probe team could be granted six weeks’ time for this. The Opposition had alleged that “quick verification” should be completed in two weeks and the Government had granted 45 days as part of a delaying tactics in order to protect Mani.
Sunil Kumar had sought registration of FIR against Mani stating that not doing so even after receiving information about a serious offence amounted to dereliction of duty while Viswan requested the court for orders for the conduct of a probe against Mani, a public servant, after registration of a proper case.