Kerala Industries Secy tenders apology to HC in contempt case
Industries Department Principal Secretary Mohammed Haneesh on Monday appeared before the Kerala High Court and tendered an unconditional apology after it warned of coercive action in a contempt case related to the KSCDC corruption probe.
Haneesh appeared before the bench of Justice A Badharudheen, which was considering a contempt petition filed by Kollam native Kadakampally Manoj alleging non-compliance with court directions regarding the grant of sanction to the CBI to prosecute Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation (KSCDC) officials in a corruption case.
Haneesh had challenged an earlier order of the single judge directing his personal appearance before the court. However, a division bench dismissed his plea.
On June 19, the court directed Haneesh to appear in person and warned that failure to do so would compel it to take coercive steps, including issuing an arrest warrant.
In compliance with the order, Haneesh appeared before the court at 10.15 am along with the Government pleader.
He also filed an affidavit explaining his earlier failure to appear and tendered an unconditional apology to the court.
The contempt petition has been posted for further consideration on July 2.
The corruption case dates back to 2015 when the CBI registered a case into alleged irregularities in the KSCDC following directions from the High Court.
After completing its investigation, the agency sought sanction from the State Government to prosecute the accused, including former KSCDC chairman R Chandrasekharan.
Subsequently, Manoj approached the court seeking implementation of its directions to grant prosecution sanction to the CBI.
Following repeated delays in granting sanction, the single bench-initiated contempt proceedings and directed the personal appearance of the Principal Secretary.
