The Hindu : Order reserved on petition against Minister

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 26, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Order reserved on petition against Minister

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, FEB. 25 . The Kerala High Court today reserved its order on a petition challenging the Thrissur Inquiry Commissioner and Special Judge's order closing a disproportionate assets case against the Minister for Excise and Fisheries, K.V. Thomas, on the basis of the final report submitted by the Vigilance.

The order was reserved by Justice N. Krishnan Nair after hearing the arguments of both sides. The petition was filed by Biju C. Valluvanadan of Kochi. The Special Judge had concluded that it was not a fit case for registering a Vigilance case (against the Minister) under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The inquiry revealed that the allegations levelled against the respondent were baseless and these were made with ulterior motives, the Judge had observed. According to the judge, the court had ordered the Vigilance to conduct only a preliminary inquiry into the allegations. But the inquiry officer had conducted a detailed investigation by recording the statements of 62 witnesses and verifying 128 documents. He took pains to go into every aspect of the allegations.

Notice issued

Justice G. Sasidharan issued notice to the CBI, Reserve Bank of India and the Central Government on a writ petition seeking a CBI inquiry into the mismanagement of the erstwhile Kozhikode-based Nedungadi Bank, which was amalgamated with the Punjab National Bank.

According to the petitioner, the Nedungadi Bank Shareholders' Association, "mismanagement" by the erstwhile directors of the bank had ultimately led to accumulation of loss and the final merger with the PNB. In fact, the bank had lost crores when the first stock scam came to light, the petitioner alleged. The petitioner also alleged that by indulging in share brokering business, the bank had run up a huge loss. Besides, it had purchased the land for its headquarters in Kozhikode at an exorbitant price. Though the shareholders had written letters to the Reserve Bank of India for an inquiry into the allegations of financial irregularities committed by the directors, no action had been taken on their petition. The petitioner sought an inquiry into all the transactions of the Bank from 1991 till its amalgamation with the PNB.

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