Three ex-Thiruvananthapuram civic officials, building owner get 4-year RI in building rules case

A Vigilance court here on Thursday sentenced three former officials of the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation and a building owner to four years' rigorous imprisonment each for facilitating construction in violation of the Kerala Municipality Building Rules.

Vigilance Court Judge Manoj A also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on former Assistant Planning Officer J Jayashankar, former Building Inspector V Sashidharan Nair and former U D Clerk R Sankaran.

Building owner G Mohandas was fined Rs 2 lakh.

According to the prosecution, Mohandas had obtained permission to renovate a building in Vanchiyoor village under the limits of the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation.

However, under the guise of the renovation permit, he completely demolished the existing structure and illegally constructed a new four-storey building, the prosecution said.

An investigation by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau found that Mohandas made financial gains by avoiding payment of the tax due to the Corporation.

The failure of the civic officials to take action against the unauthorised construction resulted in a loss of revenue to the municipal body, according to the prosecution.

The VACB Special Investigation Unit-1 registered a case against the three officials and Mohandas. The investigation was subsequently completed and a chargesheet filed.

Public Prosecutor Veena Satheesan appeared for the Vigilance.

The investigation was conducted by former Superintendent of Police K E Baiju and former Deputy Superintendents of Police M Madhu, V Ajayakumar, T Ajith Kumar and V Shyamkumar of the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Special Investigation Unit-1.