The Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB), which is going ahead with its intense probes against former Ministers K Babu of the Congress and KM Mani of the Kerala Congress (M), is preparing to examine the wealth status of several political leaders –mostly of the Congress and the Opposition UDF it heads – against whom charges of corruption have been leveled in the past.
Despite the campaign launched by a section in the Congress that the Vigilance’s moves are part of political score-settling, presumably by the CPI(M)-led ruling lDF, the bureau under Director Jacob Thomas is firm in its decision to investigate the charges of corruption against top leaders, according to sources.
It is said that instructions have already been issued to the different district units of the bureau to collect the details of the wealth amassed by leaders, including those who had been Ministers in the former UDF Government, within a fortnight. Decisions on the further moves, including preliminary investigations, could be taken by the end of this month.
The Vigilance Director, with this game-plan in mind, has already formally sought the cooperation of the Income Tax Department and the in this regard. The Enforcement Directorate is reportedly prepared to hand over information on illegal assets to the bureau in accordance with the policy of tracking down black money.
The Income Tax Directorate General in Kochi has expressed its willingness to share any information it has on the deposits political leaders might have made in private financial companies and cooperative banks provided the Vigilance seeks it as per formal procedures by specifying names and cases.
The current move of the Vigilance has come in the context of the reports that a lobby of those in the Government and the bureaucracy had derailed the investigations against some of the Ministers in the previous UDF Government. The bureau came across this fact after Jacob Thomas carried out an internal auditing in it after he took over as its Director early June.
The Vigilance is said to be planning to put top leaders of the UDF, including former Congress Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, under its scanner. It will examine whether Chandy had made illegal earnings as Saritha S Nair and Biju Radhakrishnan, both prime accused in the infamous solar scam cases, had alleged.
The assets status of several other leaders of the Congress and its past and present allies who had faced the allegation of taking money from Saritha Nair in the solar scam also could be subjected to examination by the Vigilance. “The bureau is doing its job. It will continue to do its job,” said an official based in Thiruvananthapuram who did not deny reports on its plan to track down the history of wealth of certain top leaders.
Meanwhile, the Vigilance on Tuesday continued its operations in the probe against former Excise Minister Babu, a close confidant of Chandy, in the disproportionate assets case. The bureau, which had raided the houses and offices of Babu, his relatives and alleged benamis on Saturday, completed examining the bank lockers of his daughters on Tuesday.
At the same time, a leadership meeting of the Opposition UDF on Tuesday failed to take a clear decision on the position to be adopted on the issue of the Vigilance move against Babu with Chandy and his loyalists in the Congress trying to defend him and State Congress president VM Sudheeran refusing to express a clear opinion.
While Chandy, leader of the Congress’s ‘A’ group, categorically stated that the Vigilance move against Babu was part of political score-settling, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala heading the ‘I’ group in the party said that any fair investigation could be accepted even as strong demands came up for thorough discussion on the matter within the party.